F: : 


DISCOURSE 


ADDRESSED  TO  THE 


ALUMNI  OF  YALE  COLLEGE, 


JULY     25,    1860. 


.AS.S7G 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2010  with  funding  from 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


http://www.archive.org/details/discourseaddressOOspra 


(Bwx  S^rifuiiial  Catalomu 


DISCOURSE, 


ADDRESSED   TO  THE 


ALUMNI  OF  YALE  COLLEGE, 


AT  THEIR  ANNUAL  MEETING, 


JULT     2  5,    I86  0. 


BY   WILLIAM    B.    SPIIAGUE,   D.  D. 


ALBANY: 

PRINTED    BY    C.    VAN    BENTIIUYSEN. 

isno. 


\J 


One  or  two  paragraphs  are  printed,  which  were  not  included  in  the 
discourse  at  its  deUvery. 


DISCOURSE. 


It  is  an  evidence  of  the  thoughtful  regard  of 
our  Alma  Mater  for  her  surviving  children,  as 
well  as  for  the  generations  to  come,  that,  once  in 
three  years,  she  sends  forth  a  catalogue,  revised 
and  enlarged,  of  her  whole  family.  That  cata- 
logue comes  from  most  careful  and  competent 
hands — while  it  marks  the  gradual  increase  of 
the  number  of  her  sons,  and  records  the  fresh 
honours  that,  from  time  to  time,  are  falling  upon 
many  of  them,  it  runs  anew  the  line  that  divides 
the  living  from  the  dead.  The  stars,  prefixed  to 
the  multitude  of  names,  are  emblematical  of 
graves  ;  and  it  would  require  no  great  stretch  of 
imagination  to  suppose  that  many  of  them  were 
significant  of  crowns  also ; — crowns  of  honour  in 
this  world,  crowns  of  immortal  life  in  the  next. 
Indeed  our  Triennial  may  be  considered  as  a 
sort  of  family  record,  which,  like  other  family 
records,   embodies  the  names  of  both  the  dead 


and  the  living,  and,  in  many  cases,  a  portion  of 
their  history  also.  With  this  record  before  me, 
I  will  endeavour  now  to  call  up  the  images  of 
some  of  our  elder  brothers  in  collegiate  fellow- 
ship ;  and  if  I  confine  myself  chieJfly  to  the 
departed,  it  will  not  be  for  want  of  due  respect 
for  the  living,  but  because  it  seems  to  me  more 
delicate  and  fitting,  as  a  general  rule,  that  the 
living  should  be  allowed  to  pass  the  great  ordeal, 
before  even  justice,  much  less  affection,  gives 
public  utterance  to  all  that  it  has  to  say  of  them. 
You  will  have  anticipated  me  when  I  say  that 
my  subject  is  Yale  College,  as  Ri;pRESENTED  in 
HER  Triennial  Catalogue. 

I  am  quite  aware  that  a  topic  like  this  places 
me  on  ground  beset  with  temptations  to  utter,  if 
not  great  swelling  words  of  academic  vanity,  yet 
what  might  naturally  enough  suggest  to  those 
outside  of  our  circle  the  idea  that  some  small 
share  of  self-complacency  still  lingers  among  us. 
But  I  cannot  allow  myself  to  be  trammelled  by 
any  such  considerations.  I  should  offend  against 
my  own  sense  of  filial  obligation ;  I  should  offend 
against  the  genius  of  the  occasion  that  has  con- 
vened us;  I  should  offend  against  the  claims  of 
truth,  and  justice,  and  honour,  if,  in  being  over- 


cautious  to  avoid  extravagance,  I  should  bring  to 
our  venerable  mother  an  offering  of  faint  or  equi- 
vocal praise.  I  am  thankful  that  the  occasion 
is  one  on  which  words  of  even  lofty  eulogy  may 
still  be  words  of  truth  and  soberness. 

Assuming  then,  as  graduates  of  this  College, 
the  gratefid  and  reverent  attitude  of  sons,  we  may 
claim,  first  of  all,  that  we  belong  to  an  ancient 
family.  Antiquity  is  indeed  a  relative  term ; 
and  that  which,  measured  by  one  standard,  falls 
far  back  into  the  distance,  when  referred  to  an- 
other, seems  like  a  thing  of  yesterday.  When, 
for  instance,  we  compare  the  age  of  Yale  with 
that  of  Oxford,  which  some  suppose  to  have  been 
founded,  others  to  have  been  revived,  by  the  great 
Alfred,  we  find  little  on  which  to  build  a  claim 
for  ourselves  to  an  ancient  origin.  But  when  we 
substitute  for  the  old  English  University  any  of 
the  great  sisterhood  of  American  Colleges,  which 
the  last  fifty  or  sixty  years  have  brought  into 
existence,  we  begin  to  have  some  sense  of  our 
own  venerableness — we  look  upon  our  catalogue 
with  more  of  reverence,  not  to  say  self-gratula- 
tion,  when  we  find  that  it  takes  us  back  to  the 
very  commencement  of  the  eighteenth  century. 
Harvard  had  indeed  a  vigorous  existence   when 


6 

Yale  was  founded — she  had  had  breathed  into 
her  the  spirit  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge  by  some 
of  the  most  illustrious  sons  of  each ;  and,  for  sixty 
years,  she  had  been  doing  a  work  worthy  of  her- 
self and  of  the  cause  to  which  she  was  consecra- 
ted. But  it  came  to  pass,  at  length,  as  the  popu- 
lation increased  and  extended,  that  the  public 
convenience  demanded  another  institution  of  the 
same  kind  ;  and  in  this  exigency  our  College  had 
its  origin.  Such  an  idea  had  indeed  been  con- 
ceived by  the  great  and  good  Davenport  at  a 
much  earlier  period ;  and  he  had  even  gone  so 
far  as  to  make  a  proposition  to  the  government 
respecting  it;  but  it  was  judged  premature,  and 
was  therefore  deferred  until  the  colony  should 
gain  more  strength.  In  1698,  the  matter  began 
to  be  seriously  agitated,  but  nothing  was  done  to 
purpose  till  the  next  3^ear,  when,  as  you  know,  ten 
of  the  principal  ministers  of  the  colony  were  ap- 
pointed, by  general  consent  of  both  clergy  and 
laity,  to  perform  the  work  which  resulted  in  the 
establishment  of  this  institution  ;  and  thus,  though 
the  first  commencement  was  not  held  till  1702, 
it  is  fair  to  say  that  the  college  originated  in  the 
seventeenth  century.  And  she  has  been  going 
on  her  way  rejoicing  through  the  long  period  of  a 


hundred  and  sixty  years.  She  has  witnessed  to 
the  establishment  o£  almost  all  those  institutions 
which  now  constitute  our  country's  glory.  She 
heard  the  din  of  battle  in  the  old  French  War, 
and  in  the  War  of  the  Revolution  she  even  took 
part,  in  the  person  of  her  patriotic  President. 
She  has  marked  a  long  succession  of  changes  on 
other  continents,  which  have  made  the  world  quite 
another  thing  than  what  it  was  when  she  first 
opened  her  eyes  upon  it.  Oh  if  she  could  take 
on  a  personal  form,  and  tell  us  all  that  she  has  wit- 
nessed, who  would  not  love  to  sit  at  her  feet,  and 
revel  amidst  her  rich  treasures  of  observation  ! 

Age  is  not  indeed  always  a  synonyme  of  pros- 
perity— it  often  betokens  infirmity  and  decay. 
Old  men  are  sometimes  evidently  shy  of  facing 
their  own  wrinkles;  not  so  much  because  they 
regard  wrinkles  a  deformity,  as  because  they  seem 
to  shadow  forth  the  possibility  that  the  full 
strength  of  life's  best  days  is  no  longer  theirs. 
Old  dwellings,  from  the  long  continued  action  of 
the  elements,  frequently  become  untenantable, 
and  they  are  visited  only  as  curious  relics, — pos- 
sibly as  representing  the  taste  of  another  century. 
Old  institutions,  in  many  instances,  wax  heavy 
and   monotonous  in   their  movements,  until  the 


8 

principle  of  vitality  gets  so  low  that  they  seem 
at  best  to  be  dragging  out  «a  useless  existence. 
Not  so  the  2;rancl  old  institution  in  which  our 
intellects  have  been  nursed  and  developed — she 
started  modestly  indeed,  but  gloriously ;  and  her 
course  has  ever  been  onward  ;  and  to-day  wit- 
nesses to  her  greatest  vigour  and  power.  Indeed, 
though,  when  we  look  back  to  her  beginning,  she 
may  seem  well  stricken  in  years,  yet  when  we 
consider  her  in  the  light  of  the  ages  to  come,  we 
recognize  in  her  present  state  the  freshness  of 
youth,  looking  towards  progressive,  indefinite, 
almost  boundless,  development. 

Let  me  say,  in  the  next  place,  that  our  con- 
nection is  with  a  numerous,  growing,  and  widely 
extended,  family.  The  whole  number  of  gradu- 
ates enrolled  on  our  last  Triennial  is  six  thou- 
sand eight  hundred  and  ten  ;  averaging  a  little 
more  than  forty-three  to  each  year.  This  is  a 
large  number  in  comparison  with  that  of  any 
other  American  College  save  Harvard,  which  is 
our  senior  by  sixty  years.  It  is  large  in  conside- 
ration of  the  fact  that  other  similar  institutions 
have  been  multiplying  in  all  parts  of  the  land, 
many  of  which  have  enjoyed  a  wide  and  liberal 
patronage.     It  seems  large  also  when  we  bear  in 


mind  that  much  the  greater  portion  of  our  gradu- 
ates have  come  out  of  the  ranks  of  the  yeomanry, 
among  whom  the  pecuniary  means  of  educating 
their  sons  are  not  usually  abundant.  And  I  can- 
not forbear  to  add  that  it  is  large  when  viewed  in 
the  light  of  that  now  proverbial  but  rather  humi- 
liating concession,  that  we  are  the  most  money- 
loving  people  on  earth.  If  I  were  called  upon 
to  meet  the  allegations  which  the  envy  or  stupi- 
dity of  some  foreigners  has  made  against  the  in- 
tellectual character  of  our  country,  I  should 
think  it  enough — and  more  than  they  were  enti- 
tled to — to  open  this  venerable  document  on 
which  I  am  commenting,  and  ask  whether  it  were 
probable  that  such  an  army  of  scholars  could  have 
gone  forth,  each  as  a  central  point  of  illumina- 
tion, without  j)roducing  a  result  that  must  give 
the  lie  to  these  unworthy  representations. 

When  I  say  that  we  are  a  growing  family,  I 
intend  much  more  than  merely  the  fact  that  each 
successive  year,  as  a  matter  of  course,  adds  a  new 
class  to  our  catalogue — I  mean  that  we  have  had 
a  sufficiently  rapid,  but  at  the  same  time  steady 
and  healthful,  increase.  The  aggregate  number 
of  graduates,  during  the  first  fifty  years,  was  six 
2 


10 

hundred  and  forty-eight ;  and  the  average  for 
each  year  was  nearly  thirteen :  and  when  it  is 
borne  in  mind  how  unpropitious  to  the  cause  of 
liberal  education  were  the  circumstances  of  the 
country ;  how  difficult  it  must  have  been  for 
fathers  to  dispense  with  the  labour  of  their  sons 
in  felling  the  forests  and  cultivating  the  fields,  as 
well  as  to  furnish  the  requisite  means  of  their 
support  at  college  ;  and  when,  moreover,  it  is  re- 
membered that  there  was  an  older  and  better  en- 
dowed institution  of  the  same  kind  in  the  heart 
of  New  England,  which  had  become  identified 
with  the  interests  especially  of  the  Massachusetts 
Colony, — what  seems  to  us  now  a  small  number, 
was  really  a  large  number,  to  be  assembled,  first 
at  Killingworth,  then  at  Saj^brook,  and  after- 
wards on  this  ground,  in  the  pursuit  of  learning. 
During  the  second  half-century, — that  is  from 
1752  to  1802, — there  were  sixteen  hundred  and 
eighty-six  names  added  to  the  catalogue ;  and 
the  average  annual  number  was  thirty-three  and 
three-fourths.  This,  under  all  the  circumstances, 
was  a  marvellous  increase ;  for  though,  during 
this  period,  the  population  had  a  rapid  growth, 
yet  the  first  thirty  years  of  it  particularly  were 
signalized  by  the  most  absorbing  and  agitating 


11 

scenes  of  our  history — I  mean  the  French  War, 
and  the  War  of  the  Revokition.  It  is  certainly 
worthy  of  enduring  record  that  from  1775  to 
1783,  when  the  great  question  whether  we  were 
to  be  a  nation  of  slaves  or  of  freemen  was  in  the 
process  of  being  settled  at  the  point  of  the  bayo- 
net, the  average  number  of  graduates  each  year 
was  nearly  nine  more  than  it  had  been  during  the 
same  period  immediately  preceding — an  evidence 
that  our  flxthers  felt  that  their  blood  was  to  be 
the  price  of  institutions,  which  it  would  require 
men  of  liberal  culture  to  sustain  and  carry  for- 
ward to  their  legitimate  results.  The  remaining 
part  of  the  period  of  our  collegiate  existence,  as 
presented  by  the  last  Triennial,  ranging  from 
1802  to  1850,  and  including  fifty-eight  years, 
casts  into  the  shade  the  most  favoured  of  the  pre- 
ceding portions  of  our  history.  In  this  interval, 
not  only  has  the  population  of  our  country  been 
increasing  beyond  a  parallel,  but  the  spirit  of 
general  enterprise  has  been  thoroughly  aroused, 
and  the  mind  of  the  nation  has  been  intensely 
engaged  in  working  out  problems  bearing  upon 
our  national  elevation  and  perpetuity.  With  the 
quickened  pulsations  of  the  body  politic,  with  the 
more  earnest  tone  of  thought  and  feeling  and  ac- 


12 

tion  that  has  pervaded  all  classes  of  society,  Yale 
College  has  been  in  hearty  sympathy ;  and  one 
evidence  of  this  is  that  within  this  period  she  has 
nearly  tripled  her  numbers.  Whereas,  in  1801, 
the  number  of  her  graduates  amounted  to  only 
two  thousand  three  hundred  and  thirty-four,  in 
1859,  it  had  reached  six  thousand  eight  hundred 
and  ten ;  and  whereas  the  average  of  the  second 
general  period,  amounting  to  fifty  years,  had 
been  but  thirty-three  and  three-fourths  annually, 
the  average  of  the  third,  amounting  to  fifty  eight 
years,  has  been  a  fraction  over  seventy-seven. 
To  what  extent  a  farther  advance  in  numbers  is 
likely  to  contribute  to  the  substantial  prosperity 
of  the  institution,  I  will  not  take  it  upon  myself 
to  determine. 

And  we  have  been  spreading  as  fast  as  we  have 
been  growing.  The  earliest  classes  indeed  be- 
trayed the  Connecticut  origin  of  the  institution 
from  their  scarcely  drawing  at  all  from  beyond 
the  limits  of  the  colony.  But,  after  a  while,  the 
neighbouring  colonies,  particularly  New  York, 
began  to  be  represented  here ;  and  then  the  dif- 
ferent New  England  colonies,  not  excepting 
Massachusetts  which  had  her  own  Harvard ;  and 
here   and  there  one  came  from  New  Jersey  or 


13 

Pennsylvania ;  though  it  was  not  till  the  institu- 
tion had  numbered  upwards  of  an  hundred  years 
that  it  began  to  attract  extensively  both  the  at- 
tention and  the  patronage  of  the  South.  From  a 
little  after  the  commencement  of  the  present 
century,  the  sons  of  Maryland,  Virginia,  the  Caro- 
linas,  and  Georgia,  began  to  be  found  here  in  large 
numbers ;  and  I  know  not  whether  there  be  a 
State  in  the  South  or  the  West,  which  has  not 
some  name  or  names  on  the  list  of  our  Alumni, 
And,  in  all  ordinary  cases,  tlie}^  who  come  hither 
for  an  education,  return  to  their  own  native  region 
for  a  settlement — they  come  as  the  sons  of  Caro- 
lina or  Kentucky, — they  return  as  the  sons  of 
Yale  ;  and  they  will  no  sooner  disown  the  latter 
relationship  than  the  former.  Hence  it  comes  to 
pass  that,  as  the  College  draws  her  students  from 
all  parts  of  the  land,  so  she  has  her  representatives 
in  all  parts  of  the  land — she  possesses  a  sort  of 
national  ubiquity ;  and  no  matter  Avhere  there 
may  be  occasion  to  expound  her  claims,  or  vindi- 
cate her  honour,  or  sound  forth  her  praise,  it  is 
almost  certain  that  some  one  of  her  own  honoured 
sons  will  be  there  to  do  the  filial  duty.  And  now 
and  then  one  strays  across  the  ocean,  at  least  as 
a  sojourner,  if  not  to  find  a  permanent  home  ;  so 


14 

that  it  is  fair  to  say  that  there  is  scarcely  any 
jDart  of  the  globe  which  has  not  received  the  foot- 
prints of  some  one  or  more  on  whom  has  fallen 
the  parental  benediction  of  Yale. 

It  is  scarcely  more  than  the  carrying  out  of 
thoughts  already  suggested,  to  say  that  our  rela- 
tionship is  with  an  honourable  family. 

I  would  not  attach  any  undue  importance  to  a 
name — for  every  one  knows  that  names  are  often 
very  equivocal  indices  of  things ;  and  a  splendid 
name,  applied  to  an  object  of  moderate  or  doubt- 
ful claims,  only  gives  greater  intensity  to  its  in- 
significance. But,  after  all,  where  an  honourable 
name  crowns  an  honourable  family,  or  an  hon- 
ourable institution,  it  is  impossible  that  we 
should  resrard  it  with  indifference — we  instinc- 
lively  cherish  it  as  if  it  were  a  part  of  the  family 
or  the  institution  which  it  designates.  Of  the 
individual  whose  name  this  College  bears,  I  doubt 
not  that  some  of  you  know  much  more  than  I  do; 
for  the  substance  of  all  that  I  have  been  able  to 
gather  concerning  him,  would  scarcely  occupy 
more  than  a  single  page ;  but  even  in  that  little  I 
find  enough  to  inspire  me  with  profound  rever- 
ence for  the  name  of  Yale.  For  do  we  not  hon- 
our a  spirit  of  energetic  and  persevering  enter- 


16 

prise  ?  And  is  not  that  betokened  even  in  the 
most  general  outline  of  his  history, — especially 
in  the  fact  of  his  having  emigrated  from  England 
to  India,  and  accumulated  there  an  immense  for- 
tune before  he  came  back  to  England  to  pass  the 
evening  of  his  days?  Do  we  not  involuntarily 
render  a  sort  of  homage  to  the  dignity  of  office  or 
the  splendour  of  rank?  But  this  man  occupied  a 
high  post  of  honour  while  he  was  yet  in  India, 
and  a  much  higher  one  after  his  return  to  Lon- 
don ;  for  he  was  chosen  Governor  of  the  East 
India  company  ; — a  place  second  to  no  other  in 
point  of  commercial  influence  and  respectability. 
Are  we  not  always  attracted  by  the  workings  of 
a  generous  and  philanthropic  spirit,  especially  by 
liberal  offerings  to  the  cause  of  learning  and  reli- 
gion  ?  But  we  are  walking  to-day  in  the  light  of 
Governor  Yale's  benefactions — this  great  tree  of 
knowledge  that  overshadows  us,  if  not  actually 
planted  by  his  hand,  was  watered  and  nourished 
by  his  bounty.  Is  it  not  delightful  to  see  evi- 
dences of  one's  grateful  and  enduring  remem- 
brance of  the  land,  or  the  state,  or  the  city,  in 
which  he  drew  his  first  breath,  though  Providence 
may  have  directed  that  nearly  his  whole  life 
should  be  passed  in  other  and  far  distant  climes  ? 


16 

Elihu  Yale's  birth,  and  bajDtism,  and  earliest 
training,  were  here  ;  and  this  delightful  spot 
kept  its  place  in  his  memory  and  his  heart,  as 
he  travelled  over  the  world ;  and  when  the  fitting 
time  for  demonstration  came,  the  New  Haven 
boy,  now  a  prince  in  the  domain  of  British  com- 
merce, sends  back  to  the  scene  of  his  childhood 
an  offering  to  the  noblest  of  causes, — thus  build- 
in";  for  himself  a  monument  that  shall  remain  in 
increasing  glory,  long  after  the  marble  that  marks 
his  grave  at  Wrexham  shall  have  ceased  to  be 
distinguished. 

I  find  another  element  of  our  respectability  in 
the  auspicious  circumstances  that  marked  our 
origin.  Yale  College  was  begotten  by  the  spirit 
of  lofty  intelligence  and  heroic  virtue,  combined 
Avith  a  thoughtful  and  liberal  regard  for  the  in- 
tellectual and  moral  interests  of  the  future ;  and 
the  same  spirit  watched  over  her  in  her  cradle, 
and  led  her  on,  as  by  an  angel's  hand,  towards 
her  maturity.  It  was  not  a  hasty  but  a  well  con- 
sidered design  that  was  entrusted  to  those  ten  vete- 
ran ministers  to  carry  out — a  design,  which,  though 
it  seems  to  have  been  originally  conceived  by 
John  DavenjDort,  was,  in  its  more  mature  state, 
to  be  credited,  not  so  much  to  any  single  mind 


17 

as  to  the  harmonious  action  of  many  minds,  form- 
ing the  intellectual  and  moral  atmosphere  of  the 
colony.  But  that  noble  ten,  who  had  the  enter- 
prise in  hand  when  it  existed  only  in  iiiint  and 
shadowy  outline,  who  not  only  saw  the  first  stone 
of  the  venerable  fabric  laid,  but  laid  it  them- 
selves,— they  were  men  fully  competent  to  the 
work  assigned  them ; — men  of  forecast  and  energy, 
— as  was  manifest  from  their  discreet  and  yet  de- 
cided movements  ; — men  of  large  benevolence  and 
public  spirit, — as  was  evinced  by  their  bringing 
from  their  own  libraries,  which  no  doubt  were 
small  enough,  a  liberal  contribution  of  valuable 
books,  which  became  the  nucleus,  as  they  are 
now  the  glory,  of  our  College  library.  I  should 
not  discharge  the  debt  of  reverence  that  I  owe 
them,  if  I  were  not,  in  this  connection,  to  pronounce 
their  honoured  names — JamesNoyes,  Israel  Chaun- 
CY,  Thomas  Buckingham,  Abraham  Pierson,  Samuel 
Mather,  Samuel  Andrew,  Timothy  Woodbridge, 
James  Pierpont,  Noadiah  Russell,  and  Joseph  Webb 
— these  were  the  men  whose  minds  brooded  over 
the  College,  when  it  was  a  mere  conception ; 
whose  hands,  nerved  with  faith,  and  love,  and 
mighty  power,  began  to  work  vigorously  here 
when  every  thing  was  yet  to  be  done.  They 
3 


18 

were  all,  with  a  single  exception,  graduates  of 
Harvard — and  their  interest  in  her  welfare  never 
waned — but  the  training  which  they  had  had 
there  qualified  them  at  once  to  appreciate  the 
imj)ortance  of  this  enterprise,  and  to  become  the 
successful  conductors  of  it.  The  whole  agency, 
connected  with  the  establishment  of  this  College, 
was  a  wise,  efficient,  and  every  way  honourable, 
agency  —  we  may  well  afford  to  read  the  first 
chapter  of  our  history,  and  thank  God  that  we 
have  such  a  chapter  to  read. 

But  these  wise  and  excellent  men  to  whom  the 
interests  of  the  College  were  entrusted  in  its  very 
inception,  have  had  a  long  line  of  worthy  suc- 
cessors. On  the  list  of  its  guardians  through  suc- 
cessive generations  are  found  a  hundred  and  two 
Congregational  ministers,  many  of  whom  have 
attained  to  great  eminence  ;  and  since  the  year 
1792,  there  has  been  a  liberal  infusion  into  the 
body,  of  the  civil  element,  consisting  of  the  two 
highest  officers  of  the  State,  and  six  members  of 
the  Senate  ; — an  admirable  jDrovision  at  once  for 
silencing  complaints  of  an  exclusively  clerical  in- 
fluence, and  for  securing  the  benefit  of  the  sound- 
est secular  wisdom.  Of  this  long  list  of  venera- 
ble ministers  thirteen   only  remain ;    the  eldest 


19 

survivor,  Rev.  Dr.  David  Smith,  after  having 
seen  more  than  ninety  summers,  being  still  here, 
with  a  heart  as  strong,  and  a  hand  as  ready,  to  do 
good  service  for  his  Alma  Mater  as  ever.  No  one 
could  contemplate  the  present  flourishing  condi- 
tion of  the  College,  without  feeling  assured  that 
she  must  have  had  an  eminently  wise  and  efficient 
guardianship — such  a  result  was  not  to  be  reach- 
ed under  the  auspices  of  simple  mediocrity — and, 
on  the  other  hand,  no  one,  I  am  sure,  could  pass 
his  eye  over  the  honoured  list  of  her  Corporation, 
without  arriving  at  the  secret  of  no  small  degree 
of  her  actual  prosperity. 

But  the  College  has  been  favoured,  not  more  in 
respect  to  skilful  oversight  and  direction  without, 
than  a  wise  and  liberal  system  of  instruction  and 
management  within.  And  here  let  me  ask  you 
to  pause  for  a  moment  beside  the  graves  of  the 
great  men  who  have  successively  occupied  the 
Presidential  chair ; — not  so  much  for  the  sake  of 
finding  out  any  thing  new  concerning  them,  as  to 
refresh  our  minds  and  our  hearts  with  our  own 
grateful  remembrances.  And  first  comes  Abra- 
ham PiERSON, — a  man  around  whose  character  and 
history  the  shadows  of  a  century  and  a  half  have 
gathered,  but  who  has  still  left  memorials  enough 


20 

of  his  honourable  and  useful  career  to  ensure  im- 
mortality to  his  name.  He  was  honoured  in  his 
parentage  ;  for  his  father,  after  having  graduated 
at  the  University  of  Cambridge,  and  been  episco- 
pally  ordained,  and  exercised  his  ministry  for 
some  time  in  England,  migrated  to  this  land  as  a 
helper  in  the  great  cause  of  religious  liberty  ;  and 
here  his  influence  was  widely  felt  in  matters  both 
civil  and  ecclesiastical ;  and  to  no  object  were 
his  efforts  more  earnestly  directed  than  the  evan- 
gelization of  the  Indians.  Governor  Winthrop 
pronounces  him  "  a  godly,  learned  man  ;"  and 
Cotton  Mather,  with  characteristic  quaintness, 
says  of  him, — "Wherever  he  came,  he  shone." 
The  son  was  worthy  of  the  father.  His  settle- 
ment at  Killingworth  brought  peace  where  before 
there  had  been  bitter  dissension;  and  he  soon 
became  the  idol  of  his  flock.  The  cause  of  edu- 
cation he  looked  upon  as  twin  sister  to  the  cause 
of  religion;  and  hence  he  was  identified  with  the 
project  for  establishing  the  College ;  and  not  only 
his  high  appreciation  of  learning,  but  his  own 
very  liberal  attainments,  designated  him  as  the 
proper  man  to  be  placed  at  its  head.  He  accept- 
ed the  place  without  resigning  his  pastoral  charge ; 
but,  when  the  question  of  his  removal  with  the 


21 

College  to  Saybrook  came  up,  the  parish  earnest- 
ly protested  against  what  they  considered  an  in- 
vasion of  their  rights,  while  the  Trustees  as  earn- 
estly insisted  that  the  interests  of  the  College 
were  paramount  to  those  of  the  parish,  and  there- 
fore he  ought  to  remove.  While  this  important 
question  was  yet  undecided,  he  was  struck  down 
with  a  violent  illness,  that  very  soon  took  on  a 
form  so  alarming  as  to  preclude  all  doubt  that  the 
j)eople  would  have  to  look  for  another  pastor,  and 
the  College  for  another  Rector.  His  cons-rcfra- 
tion  abounded  in  offices  of  kindness  and  tender- 
ness towards  him  during  his  illness,  while  he,  in 
turn,  expressed  the  deepest  concern  for  their  wel- 
fare, and  counselled  them  most  wisely  in  respect 
to  the  choice  of  his  successor.  His  death  produ- 
ced a  double  chasm,  and  both  learning  and  reli- 
gion wept  beside  his  grave. 

Next  to  Pierson  came  Cutler, — a  man  of  eleva- 
ted and  strongly  marked  character,  though  his 
history,  in  one  respect,  forms  an  episode  in  the 
history  of  the  College.  He  was  born  of  Puritan 
blood ;  was  an  honourable  son  of  Harvard ;  set- 
tled in  the  ministry  at  Stratford  as  an  honest  Con- 
gregationalist ;  and,  when  called  to  the  Rector- 
ship here,  was  as  true  to  his  early  religious  creed 


22 

as  ever.  But,  after  two  or  three  years,  he  began 
to  doubt  the  validity  of  his  own  ordination ;  and 
his  doubts  gradually  gave  place  to  new  convic- 
tions ;  and  he  frankly  avowed  that  reading  and 
reflection  had  made  him  an  Episcopalian.  The 
Trustees,  much  as  they  respected  and  honoured 
him,  felt  obliged  to  dispense  with  his  services  as 
Rector ;  and,  immediately  after,  he  crossed  the 
ocean,  and  came  back  a  Priest  of  the  Church  of 
England,  to  become  another  sort  of  Reetor  in 
Boston.  There  he  exercised  his  ministry  with 
great  ability  and  acceptance  for  nearly  forty 
years.  He  was  a  man  of  vigorous  and  compre- 
hensive intellect,  of  immense  learning,  and  at- 
tractive eloquence.  No  minister  of  the  Gospel 
ever  makes  any  great  change  in  his  denomina- 
tional relations  without  incurring  more  or  less  of 
censure ;  but  I  find  nothing  in  the  history  of  Dr. 
Cutler,  either  at  Stratford,  New  Haven,  or  Bos- 
ton, to  cast  the  least  shade  upon  his  candour  or 
integrity. 

The  third  in  the  series  is  Elisha  Williams, — 
concerning  whom  the  first  thing  that  strikes  us 
is,  that  he  belonged  to  a  family,  which  was  an- 
other tribe  of  Levi ;  which  seemed  a  standing 
pledge,  through  successive  generations,  that  the 


23 

Congregational  ministry  would  never  die  out. 
After  his  graduation  at  Harvard,  he  first  studied 
Divinity,  and  went  and  preached  awhile  to  the 
fishermen  of  Nova  Scotia;  then  studied  Law, 
and  was,  for  a  few  years,  engaged  in  civil  life ; 
then  sustained  a  sort  of  equivocal  relation  of 
Tutor  in  the  College ;  then,  as  the  effect  of  a 
severe  illness,  rose  to  a  higher  tone  of  spi- 
rituality, and  gave  himself  in  good  earnest  to 
the  work  of  the  ministry,  'and  was  for  five 
years  pastor  of  the  Church  in  Newington. 
Thence  he  was  called  to  the  Rectorship  of  the 
College, — an  office  rendered  at  that  time  doubly 
difficult  by  the  agitation  consequent  upon  the  re- 
moval of  his  predecessor.  For  thirteen  years  he 
discharged  his  duties  with  alacrity  and  success, 
and  then  retired,  on  account  of  the  ffiilure  of  his 
health.  We  find  him  afterwards  occupying  one 
or  two  important  civil  stations ;  serving  as  Chap- 
lain of  the  Connecticut  regiment  against  Cape 
Breton  ;  adventuring  the  next  year  in  military 
life  so  far  as  to  receive  a  Colonel's  commission ; 
crossing  the  ocean  to  adjust  a  difficulty  that  had 
arisen  in  respect  to  the  payment  of  his  regiment, 
who  had  served  their  country  two  years  in  the 
somewhat  extraordinary  way  of  only  waiting  for 


24 

orders  to  serve  it ;  passing  a  much  longer  time 
than  he  had  intended  in  England,  but  passing  it 
delightfully,  and  much  of  it  in  the  circle  of  which 
Doddridge  was  the  center ;  and  accomplishing  at 
least  one  important  thing,  which  could  not  have 
been  set  down  in  his  programme  ; — for  he  brought 
back  with  him  a  wife, — if  not  of  noble  blood,  yet 
of  noble  qualities  and  bearing, — to  take  the  place 
of  one  who  had  died  during  his  absence.  But  his 
mission  to  England  nearly  filled  up  his  mission 
upon  earth ;  and  much  of  what  remained  was  ac- 
complished by  patient  suffering.  Perhaps  his  use- 
fulness might  have  been  greater,  if  his  pursuits 
had  been  less  diversified;  bat  surely  he  must 
have  served  his  generation  well,  or  the  great  and 
good  Doddridge  never  could  have  said  of  him, — 
"I  look  upon  him  to  be  one  of  the  most  valuable 
men  upon  earth." 

The  fourth  name  upon  our  list  is  Thomas  Clap, 
in  whom  the  title  of  Rector  was  changed  to  that 
of  President.  He  had  distinguished  himself  as  a 
vigorous  and  successful  student  at  Harvard.  He 
had  been,  for  several  years,  the  greatly  beloved 
and  honoured  pastor  of  a  church  in  Windham, 
and  they  felt  his  removal  from  them  to  be  a  heavy 
loss ;  though  the  Legislature  had  tlie  grace  to  do 


25 

something,  in  the  way  of  pounds,  shillings,  and 
pence,  to  compensate  it.  He  brought  with  him 
hither  a  high  reputation,  not  only  for  science  and 
general  scholarship,  but  for  energy  and  skill  in 
the  transaction  of  business ;  and  the  event  prov- 
ed that,  in  none  of  these  respects,  had  he  been 
over-rated.  He  compiled  a  new  and  greatly  im- 
proved code  of  Laws  for  the  College,  and  drafted 
a  more  liberal  Charter,  which  was  granted  by  the 
Legislature,  He  was  instrumental  in  the  erection 
of  a  new  college  edifice  for  academic  purposes,  and 
afterwards  of  a  new  chapel,  both  of  which  still 
stand  as  monuments  of  his  enterprise ;  though 
modern  improvement  has  diverted  the  latter  from 
its  orisiinal  desi(i;n.  He  wrote  the  Annals  of  the 
College, — a  work,  which,  if  less  minute  in  its  de- 
tails than  we  could  desire,  has,  nevertheless,  been, 
to  a  great  extent,  the  basis  of  all  that  has  since 
been  written  on  the  same  subject.  In  short,  there 
is  no  doubt  that  he  tasked  his  great  mind  to  the 
utmost  in  his  endeavours  to  promote  the  prosperity 
of  the  institution.  His  orthodoxy  was  of  the 
thorough  Puritan  stamp — even  the  innovations 
which  Edwards  made  upon  it,  he  looked  upon  as 


26 

a  blow  aimed  at  the  old  foundations.*  As  for 
the  Whitefieldian  revival,  it  is  scarcely  too  much 
to  say  that  he  saw  in  it  unmixed  evil ;  and  when 
the  illustrious  itinerant  himself  came  along,  the 
President  had  no  warm  side  for  him — he  looked 
upon  him  as  litfle  better  than  an  apostle  of  fana- 
ticism, going  forth  to  scourge  the  churches ;  and, 
in  carrying  out  his  convictions,  he  came  directly 
in  conflict  with  the  high  religious  feeling  of  the 
day.  This  circumstance  contributed,  in  a  great 
measure,  to  give  complexion  to  his  administra- 
tion— it  brought  him  into  several  earnest  contro- 
versies both  with  prominent  individuals  and  with 
the  Legislature  ;  and  no  doubt  it  had  much  to  do 
in  bringing  him,  in  the  year  17G6,  to  resign  his 
office.  He  had  longed  for  repose  ;  but  he  had 
scarcely  begun  to  enjoy  it  on  earth,  when  he 
found  it  in  the  grave.  He  was  a  man  of  might 
and  of  courage, — an  heroic  defender  of  what  he 
regarded  as  truth  and  right ;  and  even  those  who 
believe  that  his  mental  or  spiritual  vision  was  in 

*  It  was  stated,  in  the  delivery  of  tliis  discourse,  that  President 
Clap's  orthodoxy  was  probably  never  fully  up  to  the  accredited  stand- 
ard of  the  day.  That  impression  I  received  fiom  a  venerable  clerg}'- 
man  who  knew  him  well,  and  was  one  of  his  pupils.  I  am  satisfied, 
however,  from  further  information  on  the  sulyect,  that  the  impression 
was  an  erroneotis  one,  and  have  accordingly  modified  the  statement  to 
conform  to  my  present  convictions. 


some  degree  disordered,  must  still  admire  the 
grandeur  of  his  intellect,  and  the  honesty  and 
intrepidit}'  of  what  may  seem  to  them  his  most 
doubtful  movements. 

When  the  venerable  Clap  retired,  the  College 
saw,  for  the  first  time,  one  of  her  own  graduates 
advanced  to  the  Presidency — the  man  was  Naph- 
TALi  Daggett,  who,  for  five  years,  had  been  an 
acceptable  pastor  of  a  Presbyterian  church  on 
Long  Island;  and,  for  the  ten  following  years,  had 
filled  the  chair  of  Professor  of  Divinity  in  this 
institution.  He  was  chosen  President  pro  tempore ; 
and  he  continued  to  discharge  the  duties  of  this 
office,  in  connection  with  those  of  the  Professor- 
ship which  he  had  previously  held,  for  eleven 
years ;  when — for  some  cause  of  which  I  am  not 
definitely  informed — he  resigned  the  Presiden- 
cy,— still,  however,  retaining  the  Professorship. 
I  have  already  alluded  to  his  having  shared  in  the 
perils  of  the  Revolutionary  War — the  story  has 
been  so  admirably  told  by  one  of  his  own  pupils, — - 
an  eminent  and  lamented  citizen  of  this  place, 
who  testified  what  he  had  seen,  that  I  will  only 
say  that  the  whole  history  of  that  memorable 
period  scarcely  furnishes  a  more  marked — cer- 
tainly not  a  more  amusing — example  of  honest 


28 

patriotism  than  he  exhibited.  With  a  more  quiet 
and  conciliatory  spirit  than  his  predecessor  pos- 
sessed, and  with  much  deeper  sympathy  with  the 
more  earnest  and  orthodox  portion  of  the  Church, 
he  contrived  to  hold  the  good- will  of  parties  who 
had  no  excess  of  good-will  to  each  other ;  and  his 
connection  with  the  College  seems  to  have  been, 
generally,  peaceful  and  happy.  It  should  not  be 
forgotten  that,  while  he  occupied  the  Presidential 
chair,  the  Tutorships  were  filled  by  some  of  the 
most  gifted  and  cultivated  minds  of  which  the 
country  can  boast;  and  this,  of  itself,  went  far 
to  constitute  that  period  of  our  history  a  brilliant 
epoch.  President  Daggett's  two  immediate  suc- 
cessors, who  knew  him  well,  have  each  left  an 
honourable  testimony  to  his  intelligence  and 
worth ;  and  it  would  be  in  vain  to  look  for  higher 
authority. 

The  resignation  of  the  Presidency  by  Dr.  Dag- 
gett, in  1777,  made  way  for  the  introduction  of 
Ezra  Stiles, — a  name  of  scarcely  less  than  world- 
wide celebrity.  The  spot  on  which  he  first  saw 
the  light  was  distant  only  a  few  miles  from  this, 
— the  theatre  of  his  greatest  fame.  His  father, 
the  Rev.  Isaac  Stiles, — himself  a  fine  classical 
scholar,  gave  the  earliest  direction  to  his  stu- 


29 

dies  ;  and  the  fact  that  at  twelve  years  of  age 
he  was  fitted  for  college,  witnessed  at  once  to  the 
competency  of  the  teacher  and  the  extraordinary 
promise  of  the  pupil.  While  he  was  an  under- 
graduate, he  was  a  shining  light  among  his  fel- 
lows ;  and  he  bore  away  from  college  its  highest 
honours.  He  studied  Theology  with  a  view  to 
the  ministry,  and  actually  began  to  preach,  and 
was  invited  to  several  fields  of  ministerial  labour ; 
but  his  health  failed,  and  a  morbid  state  of  mind 
ensued,  in  which  were  generated  the  most  pain- 
ful doubts  in  regard  to  the-  Divinity  of  the  Gos- 
pel ;  and,  while  thus  in  conflict  with  the  skepti- 
cal spirit,  he  chaftged  his  purpose  and  studied 
Law,  After  a  while,  however,  he  recovered  his 
health,  and  with  that  his  faith,  and  with  that  his 
love  for  the  profession  from  which  he  had  a  little 
while  before  drawn  back;  and  the  next  we  hear 
of  him  is  that  he  has  accepted  a  unanimous  call 
from  the  Second  Congregational  Church  in  New- 
port to  become  their  pastor.  And  now  we  find 
him,  for  a  series  of  years,  not  only  diligently  en- 
gaged in  the  duties  of  his  high  calling,  but  mas- 
tering one  Oriental  language  after  another  as  if 
by  intuition  ;  putting  in  requisition  Jews  as  well 
as  Gentiles  in  aid  of  his  improvement;  in  short, 


30 

leaving  no  field  of  knowledge  unexplored  that 
was  within  his  reach.  The  breaking  out  of  the 
War  did  not  at  once  drive  him  from  the  scene  of 
his  labours — for  so  long  as  any  portion  of  his 
flock  remained,  he  would  not  withdraw  from 
them  a  shepherd's  care — but  when  Newport 
came  to  be  occupied  by  the  British  troops,  and 
his  congregation  was  entirely  dispersed,  he  had 
no  motive,  even  if  it  had  been  possible,  to  re- 
main ;  and  he  accordingly  fled  with  the  rest, 
and  took  charge  of  a  church  in  Portsmouth, 
— the  same  of  which  Joseph  Buckminster,  one 
of  the  most  distinguished  of  our  alumni,  after- 
wards became  pastor.  But  scarcely  had  he  be- 
gun his  labours  there,  when  a  voice  from  his 
Alma  Mater  reached  him,  summoning  him  back 
to  take  the  most  honourable  and  most  responsi- 
ble place  she  had  to  ofter.  And,  after  due*  re- 
flection, he  came  and  entered  upon  his  oflice ; 
and  faithfully,  and  nobly,  and  most  acceptably, 
did  he  discharge  its  duties,  until  another  sum- 
mons reached  him,  requiring  his  presence  where 
the  inhabitants  never  die.  President  Stiles  may 
be  regarded  as  having  been,  in  many  respects, 
the  man  of  his  time.  A  ruling  passion  was  his 
love  of   knowledge  ;  and  his  attainments  were 


31 

worthy  to  have  been  the  result  of  the  diligent 
labour    of   two  or  three    long  lives.     He    could 
scarcely  have  been  set  down  in  any  country,  un- 
less the  most  barbarous,  where  he  could  not  have 
readily  commanded  a  medium  of  intercourse  with 
the  people  ;  and  even  if  Isaiah  or  David  could 
have  come  back,  he  would  have  found  a  veteran 
scholar  and  saint  here,  who  could  converse  with 
him  in  his  own  noble  language.     Not  only  had 
he   studied    the    geography  and    the  history    of 
every  portion  of  the  earth,  but  he  was  familiar 
with  the  heavens  also — if  he  made  no  new  astro- 
nomical   discoveries,    he  watched    the    explora- 
tions of  others,  and  carefully  treasured  their  re- 
sults.    His   preaching    always  evinced    thought 
and  culture.     In  the  earlier  part  of  his  ministry, 
it  is  said   to  have  been  lacking    in  evangelical 
tone  ;  but,  in  his  later  years,  it  became  more  re- 
dolent of  the  Cross,  and  increased  proportionally 
in  fervour  and  power.     His  most  celebrated  effort 
in  the  pulpit,  I  suppose,  was  that  which  taxed 
the  patience  of  the  Legislature  two  hours  and  a 
half,  and  which  remains  to  this  day,  not  more  a 
witness  to  the  author's  keen  republicanism,  than 
a  terror  to  those  who  cry  out  against  long  ser- 
mons.    He  knew  every  body  as  well  as  every 


32 

thing.  Washington  was  his  acquaintance  — 
Franklin  was  his  intimate  friend — there  was 
scarcely  a  philosopher,  or  a  theologian,  or  a  man 
of  letters,  of  any  note,  in  the  land,  with  whom 
he  was  not  familiar;  and  among  his  correspon- 
dents abroad  were  such  men  as  Lardner  and 
Price ;  and  he  sought  and  obtained  information 
even  from  eminent  Romish  priests.  His  manu- 
scripts, a  large  portion  of  which  have  fortunately 
become  the  property  of  the  College,  show  that, 
for  minute  and  successful  research  in  every  de- 
partment of  knowledge,  we  may  never  expect  to 
find  his  superior.  His  manners, — as  those  who 
knew  him  have  told  us, — were  characterized  by 
a  dignity  worthy  of  his  vast  acquirements,  and 
yet  by  a  simplicity  and  generous  frankness,  fitted 
at  once  to  disarm  envy  and  inspire  confidence. 
The  history  of  his  life  is  the  history  of  one  of 
the  noblest  minds,  unfolding  under  the  most  aus- 
picious circumstances,  and  consecrating  its  ener- 
gies to  all  the  best  interests  of  humanity. 

If  there  is  only  here  and  there  one  present 
whose  memory  reaches  back  far  enough  to  take 
in  the  image  of  the  illustrious  man  of  whom  I 
have  last  spoken,  I  am  sure  I  have  reached  a 
name  now,  the  mention  of  which  will  strike  the 


33 

chord  of  personal  recollection  in  many  who  hear 
me.  I  am  standing  beside  the  grave  of  Dwight  ; 
and  though  the  great  events  of  his  life,  and  the 
varied  lineaments  of  his  character,  come  thronging 
upon  me,  with  the  freshness  of  a  thing  of  yester- 
day, yet  I  find  little  freedom  in  speaking  of  him 
here,  where  I  know  that  every  thing  pertaining 
to  him  is  intelligently  and  gratefully  embalmed. 
I  will  'only  ask  you  to  call  wp  to  remembrance 
what  you  know  as  well  as  I  do, — that  in  descent 
he  stood  but  a  single  step  from  the  immortal 
Edwards;  that  the  foreshadowings  of  greatness 
were  recognized  almost  while  he  lay  in  his  mo- 
ther's arms;  that  he  advanced  into  life  under 
circumstances  singularly  auspicious;  that,  Avhile 
he  was  a  mere  stripling,  he  was  filling  a  Tutor- 
ship here  with  marked  ability,  and  was  attract- 
ing the  attention  of  some  of  the  most  gifted  and 
erudite  minds  by  the  productions  of  his  pen; 
that,  after  he  became  a  minister  of  the  Gospel, 
and  even  had  a  family  of  his  own  to  provide  for, 
his  filial  devotion  still  kept  him  by  the  side  of 
his  widowed  mother;  that  he  adventured  as  a 
Chaplain  in  the  army  of  the  P^evolution,  and 
enjoyed  the  confidence  of  the  master-spirit  of 
5 


that  mighty  enterprise ;  that,  for  a  while,  he 
consented  to  take  civil  office,  and  showed  him- 
self wise  and  faithful  in  the  management  of  the 
things  that  are  Ca3sar's;  that  he  went  to  Green- 
field in  the  double  capacity  of  preacher  of  the 
Gospel  and  teacher  of  youth,  and  was  abundantly 
honoured  there  both  of  God  and  of  man ;  and 
that  he  found  his  nltimate  earthly  destination 
amidst  the  responsibilities  and  honours  of  the 
Presidency  of  this  College.  We  remember  his 
finely  formed  and  majestic  person;  his  face  in- 
tensely intellectual ;  his  brilliant  eye  sometimes 
darting  fire  ;  his  whole  air  and  bearing  betoken- 
ing superiority.  We  remember  how  grandeur 
combined  with  grace  in  his  movements  up 
through  the  aisle  of  the  chapel;  how  magnifi- 
cently, as  he  sat  in  the  pulpit,  he  would  some- 
times wield  that  great  old  fan;  how  evident  it 
was,  from  his  tone  and  manner,  that  his  prayers 
came  up  from  the  very  depths  of  his  soul ;  and 
how,  in  his  sermons,  he  would  at  some  times  en- 
chain us  by  his  clear  and  forcible  logic,  and  at 
others  would  seem  to  borrow  a  seraph's  wing, 
and  bear  us  away  beautifully  into  the  skies. 
We  remember  the  triumphs  of  his  great  intellect, 
as  they  were  exhibited  in  the  recitation  room; — 


35 

how  his  well  matured  thoughts  on  every  subject 
were  always  ready  for  use;  how  his  most  elabo- 
rate pulpit  efforts  were  often  completely  distan- 
ced by  the  extemporaneous  remarks  that  follow- 
ed our  recitations;  how,  when  he  had  talked 
his  full  hour,  with  the  rapidity  of  a  cataract,  we 
felt  sure  that  he  could  have  talked  another,  with- 
out repeating  himself,  and  without  wearying  us, 
and  still  have  kept  back  enough  to  say  another 
time.  He  has  been  forty-three  years  in  his 
grave;  but  surely  the  grave  has  dealt  kindly 
with  him, —  for  it  has  only  extended  both  his 
usefulness  and  his  fame. 

I  am  well  aware  that  I  am  not  yet  at  the  end 
of  the  list  of  our  Presidents ;  and,  if  I  were  to  obey 
the  impulses  of  feeling  rather  than  what  seem  to 
me  the  dictates  of  propriety,  I  certainh^  should 
not  stop  till  I  had  j)aid  a  tribute  to  the  last. 
But  I  will  only  ask  you  to  join  me  in  thanking 
Heaven  that  two  of  the  number  yet  survive, — 
the  one,  in  the  serene  twilight  of  life,  to  receive 
the  grateful  benedictions  of  the  multitude  whom 
he  has  led  on  to  honourable  usefulness;  the  other, 
in  the  noonday  of  his  strength,  to  imj^ress  him- 
self upon  successive  generations  of  minds,  and 
thus  to  achieve  continually  new  triumphs  in  aid 


36 

of  the  great  cause  of  human  imj)rovement.  May 
there  be  years  of  tranquil  enjoyment  and  useful- 
ness m  store  for  the  one,  and  manj^  years  of 
earnest  and  successful  devotion  to  the  intellec- 
tual and  moral  interests  of  the  world  in  store  for 
the  other,  before  it  shall  be  allowed  to  justice, 
or  reverence,  or  gratitude,  to  construct  the  wreath 
which  it  is  fitting  should  be  laid  only  on  the 
grave. 

I  have  spoken  of  the  high  honour  that  has  ac- 
crued to  this  College  from  the  exalted  character 
of  her  Presidents — but  I  must  not  omit  to  say 
that  she  has  been  equally  favoured  in  respect  to 
her  entire  Faculty,  especially  her  Professors.  I 
may  allude  to  two  or  three  in  the  academic  de- 
partment, who  have  passed  away,  of  whom  I  can 
speak  from  vivid  and  affectionate  remembrance. 
The  one  who  is  thrown  farthest  back  into  the 
distance  is  Fishee,^ — that  bright  star  that  went 
down  so  suddenly  and  prematurely  into  the 
ocean.  His  mind  was  formed  to  rejoice  amidst 
lines,  and  angles,  and  quantities,  so  that  it  had 
only  to  touch  the  darkest  mathematical  pro- 
blem to  throw  it  into  a  flood  of  light.  There 
was  DuTTON, — in  respect  to  whom  it  was  dif- 
ficult  to    say  which  was  the    more  admirable, 


37 

the  clearness  and  fertilitj^  of  his  intellect,  the 
genial  tone  of  his  spirit,  or  the  winning  simpli- 
city of  his  manners.  There  was  Kingsley, — a 
man  of  keen  perception,  and  enlarged  views,  and 
most  liberal  culture — there  was  no  limit  to  his 
good  nature,  and  yet  his  quiver  was  always  full 
of  arrows — he  seemed  shy  and  diffident,  and 
.  would  pass  his  own  pupils  as  if  he  were  afraid 
of  them  ;  but  wo  to  him  who  had  the  temerity  to 
try  the  force  and  point  of  his  missiles.  There 
was  Olmsted, — with  a  mind  so  j)erfectly  balan- 
ced that  you  could  detect  no  disproportion;  with 
attainments  that  gave  him  an  honourable  rank 
among  the  philosophers  of  the  age  ;  and  with  an 
untiring  industry  and  graceful  facility  at  author 
ship,  that  have  enabled  him  to  enrich  our  libra- 
ries with  many  volumes  of  enduring  interest. 
And  last  of  all,  there  was  Goodrich, — whose  grave 
is  so  fresh,  and  whose  memory  so  dear,  that  I 
can  speak  of  him  only  as  a  mourner.  He  was  a 
fine  specimen  of  both  intellectual  and  moral  no- 
bility;— of  a  Christian  gentleman,  and  a  Chris- 
tian teacher,  and  a  Christian  minister.  His 
mind  was  at  once  comprehensive  and  energetic 
— it  was  a  capacious  storehouse  of  well  selected, 
well  assorted  treasure — his  thoughts  were  quick, 


38 

and  clear,  and  earnest,  and  always  expressed 
with  such  luminous  precision  as  to  leave  their 
exact  impress  upon  other  minds.  His  strength 
of  purpose  was  an  overmatch  for  protracted 
bodily  infirmity,  and  enabled  him  to  battle  suc- 
cessfully with  every  invader  of  his  professional 
industry,  save  the  last  enemy.  He  did  not  sur- 
render his  office  as  a  minister  of  the  Gospel,  in 
taking  the  chair  of  Professor  of  Rhetoric,  but 
exercised  as  close  and  constant  a  vigilance  over 
the  spiritual  interests  of  the  College,  during  the 
whole  period  that  he  held  that  Professorship,  as 
if  he  had  been  specially  designated  to  the  pas- 
toral care.  I  doubt  not  that  his  record  is  in 
many  a  heart,  both  on  earth  and  in  Heaven, 
which,  through  his  instrumentality,  was  first 
attuned  to  the  objects  and  joys  of  a  higher  life. 
The  works  which  he  has  left  behind,  j)raise  him; 
— works  creditable  alike  to  his  intellect  and  his 
heart ;  works  which  posterity  cannot,  without 
ignoring  both  the  dictates  of  Avisdom  and  the 
claims  of  justice,  suffer  to  die.  With  this  lament- 
ed and  honoured  friend  I  so  naturally  associate 
another  Professor  that  I  cannot  forbear  an  allu- 
sion to  him, — though  (thanks  to  a  gracious  Pro- 
vidence) he  is  yet  among  the  living; — one  whose 


39 

active  connection  with  the  College  has  indeed 
ceased,  but  whose  susceptibility  of  social  enjoy- 
ment and  |)Owers  of  general  usefulness  remain  in- 
tact ; — a  man  (he  must  forgive  me  for  saying  it 
in  his  presence)  whose  long  life  has  been  one  un- 
broken splendid  offering  to  the  cause  of  science, 
and  whose  monument  is  in  both  hemispheres. 
May  the  crown  of  venerable  age,  studded  with 
gems  of  youthful  buoyancy,  and  heroic  devotion 
to  all  that  is  good,  cuntinue  to  sit  gracefully 
upon  him,  until  it  shall  be  exchanged  for  the 
crown  of  life  ! 

And  finally,  our  College  has  been  honoured  in 
her  benefactors.  Of  her  first  great  benefactor  I 
have  already  had  occasion  to  speak  in  referring 
to  her  name — and  I  Avill  mention  only  two  be- 
sides— the  one  of  an  earlier,  the  other  of  a  later, 
period  ;  the  one  creating  a  perpetual  endowment 
for  the  promotion  of  classical  learning,  the  other 
establishing  a  gallery  of  art,  that  forms  a  most 
graceful  ornament  of  the  institution.  The  in- 
genious and  accomplished  Berkeley,  a  Dean  of 
the  Church  of  England,  combining  at  once  the 
ideal  philosopher  and-  the  practical  philanthro- 
pist, crossed  the  ocean  on  the  benevolent  errand 
of  evangelizing  the   North   American  Indians ; 


40 

and  though,  for  want  of  the  co-operation  of  the 
government  at  home,  which  he  had  been  encou- 
raged to  expect,  his  enterprise  signally  failed, 
yet  it  was  impossible  that  a  mind  so  rich,  and  a 
spirit  so  pure  and  elevated,  should  be  in  exer- 
cise here  for  two  years  and  a  half,  without  leav- 
ing an  enduring  impression  on  the  character  of 
some  of  those  infant  institutions  with  which  he 
came  in  contact.  Having  fixed  his  residence  in 
a  beautiful  valley  on  Rhode  Island,  that  he  might 
the  better  enjo}^  his  occasional  visits  to  the 
neighbouring  hills,  he  used  to  spend  his  Sundays 
in  Newport,  preaching  to  the  good  people  of  that 
town  and  its  vicinity,  and  his.  week-days  in  a 
natural  alcove  which  he  found  among  the  hang- 
m<x  rocks  and  within  the  roar  of  the  ocean, 
writing  the  book  which,  more  than  any  other  of 
his  productions,  has  immortalized  his  name, — 
the  Minute  Philosopher.  An  eminent  Episcopal 
clergyman,  who  had  himself  graduated  here,* 
ventured,  as  the  Dean  was  making  his  arrange- 
ments to  leave  the  country,  to  commend  this 
institution,  then  in  its  infancy,  to  his  beneficent 
consideration ;  the  consequence  of  which  was 
that,  in  due  time,  he  not  only  made  a  very  liberal 


•  Dr.  Johnson. 


41 

contribution  to  its  library,  but  presented  to  the 
College  a  deed  of  his  farm  on  Rhode  Island,  the 
rents  of  which  he  directed  should  be  appropriated 
to  the  maintenance  of  the  three  best  classical 
scholars  who  should  reside  at  college  at  least  nine 
months  in  the  year,  in  each  of  the  three  years  be- 
tween receiving  the  first  and  second  degrees.  And 
thus  the  memory  of  Berkeley  is  intertwined  w^ith 
the  history  of  the  College,  audit  can  never  cease 
to  be  fragrant  here  unless  the  College  should 
cease  to  be.  Trumbull,  the  other  benefactor  to 
whom  I  referred,  had  devoted  a  j)oi'tion  of  his 
early  manhood  to  the  service  of  his  country  in 
the  Revolutionary  struggle — he  was  advanced 
from  one  post  of  honour  to  another,  until  cir- 
cumstances occurred  that  led  him  to  quit  the 
army — and  then,  by  permission  of  the  British 
government,  he  went  to  reside  in  London,  to  cul- 
tivate his  fine  taste  for  painting,  under  the  in- 
struction of  his  illustrious  countryman,  Benja- 
min West.  But  when  the  tidings  of  Andre's 
execution,  consequent  on  the  fearful  lapse  of 
Arnold,  reached  London,  the  British  govern- 
ment, in  the  spirit  of  retaliation,  arrested  Colonel 
Trumbull  on  the  charge  of  high  treason,  and 
G  • 


42 

committed  him  to  prison.  After  a  confinement 
of  eight  months,  he  was  liberated  by  an  order  in 
council,  and  admitted  to  bail ;  and,  before  the 
treaty  of  Peace  was  concluded,  he  returned  to 
America ;  though  he  subsequently  rejoined  Mr. 
West,  and  devoted  himself  with  great  enthusi- 
asm to  his  favourite  pursuit.  After  this,  he 
held  several  important  civil  offices,  but  no- 
thing was  suffered  to  cripple  or  overshadow 
the  artist — his  professional  career  became  in- 
creasingly brilliant,  and  in  1817,  he  was  em- 
ployed by  Congress  to  paint  some  of  the  most 
striking  scenes  of  the  Hevolution  ;  and  he  per- 
formed the  service  in  a  manner  honourable  alike 
to  himself  and  the  country.  The  bequest  which 
he  has  made  to  the  College,,  comprising  upwards 
of  fifty  splendid  productions  of  his  pencil,  is  a 
testimony  to  both  his  genius  and  munificence, 
that  the  lapse  of  ages  will  scarcely  impair. 

Enough,  I  suppose,  has  been  said  to  illustrate 
the  dignity  of  our  relationship  ;  though  there  are 
other  considerations  upon  which  I  should  love  to 
dwell,  if  I  did  not  foresee  the  danger  of  exhaust- 
ing your  patience.  I  will  venture  to  put  forth 
one  more  academic  claim, — namely,  that  we  be- 
long to  an  influential  family, — a  family  that  has 


43 

already  accomplished  much  for  the  country  and 
the  race,  but  Avhose  patriotic  and  benevolent 
mission  is  only  begun. 

I  know  that  influence  is  in  its  very  nature  sub- 
tle, diftusive,  and  often  difficult  to  be  analyzed, 
or  even  detected.  And  this  is  especially  true  in 
regard  to  the  combined  action  of  several  differ- 
ent institutions,  all  moving  forward  in  the  same 
direction — you  are  assured  that  each  is  making 
itself  felt  in  the  various  departments  of  society, 
but  you  can  never  know  exactly  wdiere  the  in- 
fluence of  one  ends  and  that  of  another  begins — 
you  only  know  that  you  are  breathing  an  intel- 
lectual and  moral  atmosphere,  which  their  joint 
operation  has  helped  to  generate.  Ever  since 
Yale  College  has  existed,  she  has  had  sisters — 
for  William  and  Mary  as  well  as  Harvard  was 
her  senior — and  the  number  has  now  become  so 
great  that  it  is  an  evidence  of  a  good  memory — 
not  to  say  of  considerable  research — to  be  able 
to  repeat  even  their  names;  but  each  of  these 
has  contributed  her  share — some  of  them  no 
doubt  a  very  humble  share — to  that  state  of 
things  which  we  recognize  as  the  existing  condi- 
tion of  our  republic,  and  I  may  add,  of  the  world. 
I  will  not  undertake  so  invidious  a  task  as  to  in- 


44 

stitute  any  comparison  between  the  amount  of 
good  accomplished  by  this  College,  and  that  which 
has  been  accomplished  by  any  other;  but  I  will 
ask  you  to  accompany  me  to  some  of  our  chief 
fountains  of  influence,  and  see  wdiether  we  do 
not  find  our  Alma  Mater  every  wdiere  honourably 
represented. 

In  1776,  an  assembly  w^as  convened  in  Phila- 
delphia, representing  the  views  and  interests 
of  the  thirteen  oppressed  colonies.  The  question 
which  they  came  together  to  decide  was,  whether 
the  nation  should  quietly  wear  the  chain  which 
had  been  forged  for  her,  or  should  make  a  despe- 
rate eftbrt  at  self-emancipation.  In  the  decision 
in  which  their  deliberations  are  to  result,  are 
bound  up  the  interests  of  unborn  millions, — nay, 
of.our  common  humanity.  The  spirit  of  timidity 
is  not  there — the  spirit  of  rashness  is  not  there — 
but  there  is  a  force  of  purpose,  that  has  already 
nerved  the  arm  into  steel.  There  is  a  calm 
forethought,  that  determines  upon  no  measure 
without  adventuring  into  the  future  to  find  out 
its  probable  consequences.  There  is  an  heroic 
patriotic  devotion  that  fervidly  exclaims, — "  Ra- 
ther than  prove  false  to  thee,  0  my  country,  in 
this  hour  of  thy  peril,  let  me  be  offered  up."    There 


45 

is  a  recognition  of  dependance  on  God ;  for  not 
only  are  the  deliberations  of  each  day  opened 
with  prayer,  but  the  great  Witherspoon  is  there 
as  a  member  of  the  body,  and  he  had  been  a  hero 
for  Christ  long  before  his  adopted  country  asked 
his  patriotic  services.  Tyrants  turn  their  eyes 
towards  that  august  assemblage,  and  gnash  their 
teeth.  The  lovers  of  freedom  all  over  the  world 
concentrate  their  hopeful  looks  upon  it,  and 
silently  breathe  forth  the  prayer  that  there  may 
be  no  faltering.  The  time  for  the  momentous 
decision  arrives,  and,  with  united  heart  and 
hand,  the  blow  is  struck;  and  Yale  College  hefps 
to  strike  it.  She  was  there  in  the  person  of  her 
Livingston,  her  Morris,  her  Wolcott,  and  her 
Hall,  and  each  of  them  affixed  his  name  to  the 
immortal  document  with  an  untrembling  hand. 
Who  of  us  does  not  venerate  our  mother  the 
more  for  having  thus,  through  four  of  her  noble 
sons,  borne  a  part  in  the  grandest  political  act 
which  perhaps  the  world  has  ever  witnessed  ? 

But  that  illustrious  Congress  had  only  begun 
their  work  in  making  proclamation  of  our  free- 
dom— they  had  a  yet  more  difficult  service  to 
perform  in  helping  the  country  to  maintain  the 
attitude  they  had  assumed  for  her.     It  devolved 


46 

on  them  to  carry  us  through  a  seven  years'  war 
with  the  most  powerful  nation  upon  earth  ;  to 
sustain  and  co-operate  with  an  army  that  were 
sometimes  half  discouraged,  even  half  starved  ; 
to  brave  the  current  of  Toryism,  occasionally 
blackening  into  treason,  that  swept  through  the 
land  ;  to  decide  doubtful  questions  and  adjust 
conflicting  claims,  and  to  take  care  that  the 
whole  Revolutionary  machinery  was  kept  in  good 
order  till  they  could  aftbrd  to  let  it  stop.  And 
even  after  the  struggle  had  ceased,  and  our  inde- 
pendence had  been  acknowledged,  those  politi- 
caT  fathers  had  still  enough  to  do — they  had  to 
construct  new  institutions  from  what  was  little 
better  than  chaos — they  had  to  settle  great  prin- 
ciples that  had  never  been  brought  out  before  in 
practical  exemplification — they  had  to  surround 
with  guards  the  results  of  their  own  previous 
labours,  and  to  provide  as  well  against  internal 
faction  as  foreign  invasion — in  short,  it  devolved 
on  them,  in  great  measure,  to  decide  whether 
the  sun  of  liberty,  which  had  but  just  shown 
itself  above  the  horizon,  should  speedily  pass 
into  a  cloud,  never  to  emerge  from  it,  or  should 
rise  higher  and  shine  brighter  unto  the  perfect 
day.     This  body  was  continued  in  its  identity. 


47 

though  by  a  succession  of  members,  till  the  fra- 
miing  of  the  Constitution  in  '87;  and  most  fitly 
and  faithfully  did  it  discharo-e  its  trust.  On  the 
list  of  names  that  composed  it,  I  count  eigh- 
teen sons  of  Yale,  beside  those  who  hazarded 
their  lives  over  the  Declaration;  and  when  I 
say  that  among  them  are  such  men  as  Eliphalet 
Dyer,  William  Livingston,  and  William  Samuel 
Johnson,  I  am  sure  you  will  not  doubt  that  this 
College  has  had  her  full  share,  not  only  in  achiev- 
ing our  country's  independence,  but  in  preserv- 
ing and  cherishing  it  during  the  critical  period 
of  its  infancy. 

When  the  fulness  of  time  had  come  for  settling 
our  political  concerns  on  a  permanent  basis,  an- 
other assembly  was  convened,  designed  to  em- 
body the  highest  wisdom  of  the  nation.  Repre- 
senting, as  they  did,  the  various  jDarts  of  the 
country,  it  was  not  strange  that  their  proceed- 
ings were  not  marked  by  perfect  harmony;  but 
it  has  been  generally  conceded  that  their  delibe- 
rations resulted  in  the  formation  of  an  instru- 
ment in  which  conflicting  interests  are  admira- 
bly balanced,  and  the  well-being  of  the  whole 
community  of  States  most  wisely  provided  for. 
Three  of  our  alumni  were  there;  and  they  were 


48 

men  whose  ver}^  presence  any  where  was  an 
element  of  power.  Their  names  are  snbscri- 
bed  to  the  Constitution;  and,  here  again,  shall 
we  not  cherish  the  Constitution  with  a  higher 
and  more  sacred  regard,  because  our  elder  bro- 
thers assisted  to  frame  it  ? 

Since  that  memorable  epoch  in  our  history, 
our  national  aftairs  have  been  managed  by  a 
body  constituted  differently  from  the  Old  Con- 
o'ress,  inasmuch  as  it  consists  of  two  distinct 
branches,  whose  co-operation,  including  also  the 
sanction  of  a  yet  higher  power,  is  essential  to 
valid  action.  But  here  too,  need  I  say  that 
Yale  College  is  most  Avidely  and  nobly  represent- 
ed ?  If  my  estimate  be  correct,  she  has  furnished 
a  hundred  and  twenty-nine  members  of  the  House 
of  Ptepresentatives,  and  forty-one  members  of 
the  Senate  ;  and  among  them,  especially  the 
latter,  have  been  found  many  great  minds 
that  were  rarely  ever  in  repose,  and  sometimes 
moved  with  prodigious  power.  Among  those 
whose  names  in  the  catalogue  are  starred,  you 
will  think  of  Abraham  Baldwin,  Hillhouse,  Good- 
rich, Tracy,  Daggett,  Mason,  Bates,  Davis, 
and  a  multitude  of  others,  whose  voices,  long 
since    still    in    death,     used    to    thrill    to    the 


49 

heart  of  the  nation.  I  may  safely  say  that  Con- 
gress never  assembles,  but  that,  in  one  branch 
or  the  other,  or  both,  are  to  be  found  men  to 
whom  the  sound  of  our  old  college-bell  is  as  fami- 
liar as  the  sound  of  their  own  voices ;  and,  per- 
adventure,  sometimes  they  sit  down  from  some 
of  their  grandest  efforts,  that  vibrate  to  the  ex- 
tremity of  the  land,  amidst  grateful  recollections 
of  the  rearing  they  had  here,  while  their  facul- 
ties were  only  in  the  process  of  early  develop- 
ment. 

The  Heads  of  the  different  departments,  con- 
stituting what  is  familiarly  known  as  the  Presi- 
dent's Cabinet,  need  I  say  have  a  primary  in- 
fluence in  moulding  and  guiding  the  destinies  of 
the  nation.  As  they  are  the  chosen  counsellors 
of  the  Chief  Magistrate,  it  is  to  be  presumed 
that  they  generally  have  his  ear;  and  through 
him,  as  well  as  by  a  more  direct  agency  in  their 
own  immediate  sphere,  they  make  themselves 
felt  for  weal  or  wo,  to  the  remotest  parts  of  the 
land.  I  find  ten  names  on  our  catalogue,  which 
are  also  enrolled  on  these  high  records  of  State. 
Chief  among  these  is  John  Caldwell  Calhoun, — 
a  man  of  immense  grasp  of  mind  and  proportional 
energy    of   will ;    whose  eloquence    was    strong, 


50 

terse,    impassioned,     severe  ;    whose     colloquial 
powers   were  almost  without  a  parallel ;  whose 
education  at  the  North  did  nothing  to  cool  his 
love  for  Southern  institutions,  but  whose  majestic 
intellect  and  sterling  virtues  were  honoured  even 
by  those  who  eschewed  his  political  creed.     And 
there   is  one   other  name   that  I  must  mention 
here,  and  that  is  Clayton — for  he  was  my  own 
much  loved   classmate.      He   was   bright,   kind- 
hearted,  impulsive,  and  I  believe  he  never  occu- 
pied any  prominent  station  without  leaving  his 
mark   there.     I   never  saw  him   but  once   after 
Dr.  D wight  delivered  to  us  our  dij^lomas,   and 
then  under  circumstances  that  showed  that  his 
heart   had  lost  nothing    of  its    genial    warmth. 
After  years  of  separation,  during  which  our  rela- 
tions in  life  had  undergone  many  chauges,  I  ar- 
rived late  in  the  evening  at  a  hotel  in  New  Jer- 
sey, and  stopped  for  the  night.     As  I  entered  my 
chamber,  I  saw  a  bed  before  me  already  occu- 
pied; and  the   instant  the  occupant   heard  my 
voice,  he   gave  one    hearty,    ungraceful  bound, 
which  brought  him  to  my  arms — and  it  was  Jack 
Clayton.     It  is  needless  to  say  that  we  had  Yale 
College  in  our  chamber  during  most  of  the  night. 
When  we  parted  in  the  morning,  it  was  with  the 


51 

hope  of  meeting  often;   but  the  years   rolled  on; 
and  he  died  ;   and  we  met — never. 

Is  not  the  Ambassador  to  a  Foreign  Court  in 
a  situation  to  wield  a  mighty  influence  upon  the 
destinies  of  his  country?  Is  not  the  question  of 
Peace  or  War  sometimes  virtually  submitted  to 
his  decision  ?  And  if,  by  any  means,  a  man  of 
acknowledged  weakness,  or  doubtful  integrity, 
finds  his  way  into  this  office,  especially  where 
momentous  interests  are  pending,  do  we  not 
always  regard  it  as  a  dark  cloud  in  our  political 
horizon?  Nine  of  our  graduates  have,  at  differ- 
ent periods,  sustained  this  high  office.  Of  these 
I  may  mention  particularly  David  Humphreys  and 
Joel  Barlow  ;  both  of  whom  became  distin- 
guished in  other  departments  than  that  of  diplo- 
macy. Both  were  highly  gifted  men  ;  both  were 
poets ;  both  mingled  in  the  stirring  scenes  of 
the  Revolution, — the  one  as  Colonel,  the  other 
as  Chaplain.  Those  who  were  contemj)orary 
with  me  in  college,  will  remember  Colonel  Hum- 
phreys, as  we  used  often  to  meet  him  in  the 
street, — an  erect,  vigorous  old  man,  always  look- 
ing as  if  he  was  dressed  for  a  ball,  and  exhibit- 
ing an  air  and  manner  strongly  marked  by  the 
period  through  which  he  had  come. 


oz 


What  say  you  of  the  importance  of  the  Chief 
Magistracy,  or  the  Supreme  Judiciary,  of  the 
separate  States  ?  Is  not  each  vitally  connected 
with  the  public  weal  ?  If  either  the  reins  of 
government  or  the  scales  of  justice  are  not  held 
with  an  even  hand,  what  else  can  we  expect 
than  that  the  State  will  become  a  scene  of  rest- 
lessness and  agitation,  if  not  of  open  revolt? 
To  be  the  Governor  of  a  State,  or  a  Judge  of 
the  Supreme  Court  of  a  State,  is  to  occupy  a 
position  from  which  there  goes  forth  a  current 
of  influence  that  works  a  channel  for  itself 
through  every  portion  of  the  community.  But 
of  Governors,  this  College  has  furnished  twenty- 
seven ;  and  of  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court,  a 
hundred  and  six  ;  and  on  each  list  I  find  names 
not  a  few,  which  our  common  country  has  long 
since  adopted  as  her  own.  As  a  representative 
of  the  latter  class,  I  think  of  Roger  Minot 
Sherman  ;  and  as  a  representative  of  both,  I 
think  of  John  Cotton  Smith; — two  as  fine 
spirits,  I  had  almost  said,  as  our  fallen  humanity 
can  show.  Judge  Sherman  I  knew  well — he 
was  the  friend  of  my  early  as  well  as  mature 
years ;  and  I  may  be  allowed  to  pause  beside 
his  grave  long  enough   to  place  an  humble  gar- 


53 

land  upon  it.  His  mind  was  as  clear  as  the  sun, 
and  as  comprehensive  and  well  balanced  as  it 
was  clear.  His  heart  was  fertile  in  generous 
feelings,  and  purposes,  which  were  sure  to  ripen 
into  acts  of  substantial  beneficence.  There  was 
a  calm  dignity  in  his  manner  that  bespoke  wis- 
dom and  thoughtfulness ;  and  his  movements 
seemed  to  be  by  rule  ;  but  his  exactness  was  so 
qualified  by  kindness,  nnd  even  gentleness,  that 
he  won  the  confidence  and  love  of  every  body. 
He  was  deeply  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  the 
Gospel,  and  you  could  not  find  a  Christian  whose 
heart  would  throb  more  tenderly  at  the  remeni 
brance  of  his  Saviour's  love.  He  was  a  great 
lawyer,  and  a  great  judge,  but  he  was  a  great 
theologian  as  well — I  remember  how  ably  and 
impressively  he  used  to  expound  God's  word  to 
us  at  the  weekly  conference,  in  the  absence  of 
his  pastor,  when  it  seemed  to  me  that  we  should 
scarcely  have  been  gainers  if  we  had  had  Dr. 
Dwight  in  his  place.  He  knew  how  to  guide  the 
minds  of  the  inquiring,  to  resolve  the  scruples  of 
the  doubting,  to  encourage  the  timid,  and  rebuke 
the  wayward,  as  well  as  any  minister  you  would 
meet.  His  life  was  a  scene  of  eminent  useful- 
ness ;  and,  far  beyond  the  community  in  which 


54 

he  lived,  his  name  will  be  held  in  profound  reve- 
rence by  many  generations. 

If  a  College  is  an  acknowledged  fountain  of  vast 
influence,  then  surely  he  who  presides  over  such 
an  institution,  has  a  hand  upon  the  very  springs 
of  social  and  public  happiness.  He  is  constantly 
giving  direction  to  minds  that  are  soon  going 
forth  to  give  direction  to  the  concerns  of  the 
Church  and  the  State  ;  and  through  them  he  cir- 
culates invisibly  but  most  effectively  throughout 
the  whole  domain  of  society.  No  less  than  forty- 
two  of  our  alumni  have  held  or  are  now  holding 
this  important  office, — to  say  nothing  of  the  mul- 
titude who  occupy  Professorships  and  other  posts 
of  instruction,  many  of  which  bring  them  in  im- 
mediate contact  with  a  greater  number  of  youth 
than  even  the  Presidency  itself.  Among  the 
earlier  Presidents  which  the  college  has  furnish- 
ed, are  Jonathan  Dickinson,  Samuel  Johnson, 
Jonathan  Edwards,  and  Aaron  Burr,  —  names 
which  have  lost  nothino;  of  their  freshness  bv 
the  lapse  of  a  century ;  and,  as  Ave  come  further 
down,  Ave  find  the  catalogue  illumined  Avitli  other 
similar  lights  of  equal  brilliancy.  Who  can  be- 
gin to  measure  the  influence  Avhicli  this  College 
has  exerted  merely  in  training  others  to  take  the 


direction  and  mould  the  character  of  institutions 
like  itself? 

I  must  not  omit  to  speak  of  the  noble  contri- 
butions that  have  been  made  through  our  College 
to  the  various  departments  of  literature  and 
science ;  some  of  which  have  emanated  directly 
from  the  College  itself,  while  others  have  come 
as  witnesses  to  the  industry  and  ability  of  its 
graduates  in  after  life.  To  Theology,  that  no- 
blest of  all  sciences,  including  also  the  kindred 
branch  of  Moral  Philosophy,  what  a  contribu- 
tor was  the  great  Edwards, — one  of  the  chief 
glories  of  his  age — what  comes  to  others  by  a  pro- 
cess of  induction,  he  knew  intuitively — he  walk- 
ed through  the  darkest  regions  of  Metaphysics, 
and  made  all  as  light  as  day.  And  his  scarcely 
less  renowned  grandson.  President  Dwigiit, — 
what  a  bequest  was  that  which  he  made  to  the 
world  in  his  System  of  Theology ; — a  work  which 
has  long  since  acquired  a  European  fame,  and,  I 
doubt  not,  is  destined  to  be  eagerly  and  admi- 
ringly read  by  the  light  of  the  millenial  age.  In 
the  Mathematics  I  need  not  say  who  has  written 
treatises  and  furnished  text  books,  that  have,  by 
general  consent,  been  a  decided  improvement 
upon  all  that  had  preceded  them.     In  the  Natu- 


56 

ral  Sciences,  I  will  speak  only  of  the  Journal  of 
Science, — that  great  monument  of  learning  and 
industry,  that  has  called  forth  the  admiration  of 
all  scientific  Europe.  In  History,  Trumbull, 
Holmes,  and  Pitkin,  are  never  to  be  forgotten 
names.  Trumbull  was  a  man  of  unpretending 
air  and  mien,  but  of  vigorous  mind,  and  iron 
nerve,  and  untiring  industry.  He  w^orked  dili- 
gently on  his  farm,  and  in  his  parish,  but  he 
found  time  to  work  also  in  decyphering  the  re- 
cords of  the  past,  and  the  grave-stones  of  the 
fathers ;  and  out  of  the  results  of  these  researches 
he  has  constructed  Histories  of  great  and  endu- 
ring interest.  Holmes  spent  a  large  part  of  his 
professional  life  under  the  shadow  of  Harvard, 
enjoying  of  course  the  best  opportunities  for  suc- 
cessful research  ;  and  the  results  of  his  extended 
and  most  careful  inquiries  he  has  embodied  in 
two  noble  volumes  that  will  witness  to  posterity 
of  his  excellent  judgment,  and  cultivated  taste, 
and  rigid  imj)artiality,  as  well  as  persevering  in- 
dustry.    Pitkin,  though  himself  a  distinguished 

lawyer  and   statesman,   represented   in  his  de- 

• 

scent  both  the  Church  and  the  State  ;  for  his 
father  was  an  honoured  clergyman ;  and  his 
grandfather  was  a  Governor;  and  his  more  re- 


67 

mote  ancestors  occupied  high  places  of  civil  in- 
fluence. It  may  be  jDresumed  that  he  inherited 
both  the  taste  and  the  facilities  for  historical  in- 
vestigation— certainly  he  contrived,  in  connec- 
tion with  his  j)rofessional  and  still  more  public 
duties,  to  make  an  invaluable  contribution  to 
both  the  commercial  and  political  history  of  the 
United  States.  In  Geography  there  have  been 
the  Morses, — -father  and  son — the  one  created  an 
epoch  in  the  history  of  the  science, — the  other 
has  entered  nobly  into  his  father's  labours.  In 
English  Lexicography,  the  age,  even  the  language, 
cannot  boast  of  two  greater  lights  than  Webster 
and  Worcester — the  former  rests  in  an  honoured 
grave, — the  latter  lives  to  wear  his  laurels.  In 
the  science  of  Law,  I  surely  need  mention  no 
other  name  than  James  Kent;  for  who  does  not 
know  that  his  legal  learning  was  prodigious;  and 
that  the  buoyant  old  man,  who  could  share  the 
sports  of  little  children  to  the  last,  and  who  was 
as  simple  and  childlike  as  they,  had  produced 
Commentaries  on  the  Law,  which  have  rendered 
him  an  authority  in  the  highest  circles  of  British 
jurisprudence.  In  Poetry,  the  English  language 
has  scarcely  a  richer   gem  of  its  kind  than  Mc- 


58 

Fingall — its  author  another  Trumbull, — a  man  of 
splendid  intellect  and  varied  acquisitions,  and 
in  the  power  of  satire  well-nigh  unrivalled. 
HiLLHousE — here  especially  where  he  lived,  it  is 
enousrh  to  mention  his  name — for  it  associates 
itself  at  once  with  not  only  the  highest  style  of 
genius,  but  the  rarest  social  attractions.  And 
neither  my  judgment  nor  my  heart  will  allow  me 
to  keep  back  the  name  of  my  poor  classmate, 
Percival.  He  was  certainly  to  be  reckoned 
among  the  anomalous  formations  of  human  exis- 
tence. With  a  mind  of  great  natural  inquisitive- 
ness  and  withal  highly  imaginative,  and  with  a 
heart  not  originally  wanting  in  the  element  of 
kindness,  he  combined  all  the  essential  tenden- 
cies of  a  hermit.  He  gathered  a  library  the 
most  ample,  that  his  mind  not  only  fed  but  re- 
velled upon;  and  thus,  while  he  had  little  to  say 
to  the  living,  he  was  always  conversing  with  the 
dead.  He  loved  to  roam  about  the  fields,  not 
more  for  the  sake  of  scrutinizing  the  works  of 
nature,  than  because  it  was  a  luxury  to  him  to 
be  alone ;  and  when  he  came  back  from  his  ram- 
bles, he  was  alone  still;  and  lucky  was  he  who 
ever  got  his  foot  over  the  threshold  of  his  cell. 
He  was  an  enthusiast  in  natural  science;  and 


59 

upon  her  altar  he  laid  some  choice  offerings. 
There  was  a  time  when  his  mind  refused  to  open 
fully  to  the  blessed  light  of  Christianity ;  and,  on 
one  occasion,  while  he  was  shivering  under  a 
skeptical  chill,  his  imagination  burst  forth  in  an 
effusion  that  made  infidelity  look  darker  than 
the  shadow  of  death.  His  poetical  productions 
very  fairly  represent  the  peculiarities  of  his  ge- 
nius, and  some  of  them  are  exceedingly  rich  and 
beautiful.  If  the  history  of  his  inner  life  could 
be  written,  it  would  be  a  study  for  the  philoso- 
pher, and  in  some  respects  a  warning  to  all  lite- 
rary men. 

But  our  catalogue  contains  names  that  are 
blazoned  on  the  records  of  art,  and  of  high  dis- 
covery; and  some  that  are  associated  with  the 
revealing  of  what  seemed  nature's  deepest 
secrets.  Who  invented  the  machine  for  separa- 
ting the  cotton  from  its  seed,  thus  saving  an  in- 
calculable amount  of  labour,  and  marking  an 
epoch  in  the  commercial  j^rosperity  of  the  South- 
ern States  ?  It  was  Eli  Whitney; — a  man  whose 
mechanical  genius  would  well  bear  comparison 
with  that  of  Watt  or  Arkwright;  and  whose  per- 
severance never  relinquished  an  undertaking 
which   it   was   possible    to   accomplish.      Who 


60 

taught  the  electric  fire  to  clo  the  work  of  a  post, 
thus  enabling  us  to  keep  talking  with  our  wives 
and  our  little  ones,  as  the  rail-car  bears  us  a 
thousand  miles  away  from  them  ?  It  was  Samuel 
FiNLEY  Breeze  Morse,  who,  after  taking  rank 
among  the  first  artists  of  his  time,  and  enriching 
many  of  our  dwellings  with  his  highly  finished 
productions,  threw  aside  his  brush,  only  to  throw 
the  whole  world  into  a  fit  of  rapture,  by  making 
them  all  feel  as  if  they  were  living  in  the  same 
neighbourhood.  Both  Whitney  and  Morse,  and 
especially  the  latter,  have  impressed  themselves 
indelibly  upon  the  condition  and  destiny  of 
mankind;  and  well  may  the  eye  of  every  son  of 
Yale  fall  gratefully  upon  the  page  that  embalms 
their  honoured  names. 

I  shall  not,  I  hope,  be  suspected  of  wishing  to 
unduly  exalt  my  own  profession,  on  an  occasion 
purely  academic,  when  I  say  that  the  Christian 
ministry  is  one  of  God's  chief  instruments  for 
enlightening  and  regenerating  the  world;  and 
that  no  literary  institution  has  done  more  in  aid 
of  the  ministry  of  this  land  than  our  own.  What 
think  you  of  there  having  been  trained  here 
seventeen  hundred  and  twenty-one  young  men, 
who   have    gone    forth   to   preach  that    Gospel, 


61 

which,  besides  looking  to  all  the  great  interests 
of  the  world  beyond  the  grave,  embodies  the  ele- 
ments of  the  highest  civilization,  and  is,  in  every 
way,  the  most  efficient  auxiliary  to  our  temporal 
well-being?  As  my  eye,  in  passing  over  the 
catalogue,  has  paused  upon  one  great  light  after 
another,  I  have  been  tempted  to  ask  your  indul- 
gence a  few  minutes  longer,  that  I  might  bring 
up  a  goodly  number  of  those  venerable  tenants 
of  the  grave,  as  examples  of  the  earnestness  and 
power  with  which  the  Gospel  has  been  dispensed 
to  other  generations  as  well  as  our  own.  But  I 
cannot  conscientiously  linger  here  for  more  than 
a  moment,  and  I  will  name  only  the  few  who 
come  first  to  my  remembrance.  Far  back,  in 
Whitefield  times,  was  Bellamy,  who  stood  up  in 
the  pulpit,  a  valiant  old  champion  in  the  service 
of  Christ,  and  used  the  Gospel  as  a  warrior  would 
use  a  battle  axe — the  staple  of  his  preaching 
was  stern  orthodoxy — the  manner  was  a  com- 
pound of  naturalness,  earnestness,  and  boldness. 
A  little  later  was  my  revered  friend  and  col- 
league. Dr.  Joseph  Lathrop,  whose  preaching  the 
simplest  could  understand  and  the  wisest  could 
be  instructed  by ;  who  wrote  more  than  five 
thousand  sermons,    every  one  of  them  bearing 


62 

the  impress  of  his  own  luminous  and  beautiful 
mind.  Then  came  Emmons,  some  of  whose  spe- 
culations comparatively  few  will  endorse,  but 
whose  perspicuity  and  skill  at  logical  induc- 
tion comparatively  few  have  approached.  By 
and  bye  Griffin  arose — a  man  of  might,  both 
physically  and  intellectually — the  richness  of 
his  thoughts,  the  sj)lendour  and  force  of  his  dic- 
tion, the  surpassing  grandeur  of  his  manner,  and 
that  indescribable  unction  that  comes  only  from 
deep  communion  with  the  Cross,  placed  his  au- 
ditory as  much  under  his  control  as  if  he  had 
thrown  around  everv  one  of  them  a  masfic  chain. 
Then  there  was  Moses  Stuart,  whose  mind  was 
an  exuberant  spring  of  striking  thought;  whose 
discourses  were  full  of  light,  and  point,  and 
power,  and  were  delivered  with  a  forcible,  I  had 
almost  said  rugged,  simplicity,  that  was  of  itself 
an  effectual  security  against  all  listless  hearing. 
There  was  Nettleton, — an  angel  sent  unto  the 
churches,  with  a  lighted  candle  in  one  hand,  and 
a  sword  piercing  to  the  dividing  asunder  of  soul 
and  spirit  in  the  other;  who  preached  oftener 
to  subdued  and  mourning  congregations  than  per- 
haps any  other  man  of  his  time.  There  was  Ne- 
vins, — my  classmate  in  the  Theological  Seminary 


63 

— with  an  imasfination  that  revelled  alike  in  the 
soft  brilliancy  of  the  rainbow  and  the  fnrious 
rush  of  the  cataract  or  the  storm ;  with  a  power 
of  logic  that  blended,  in  large  measure  and  just 
proportions,  light,  and  order,  and  strength,  and 
was  intensified  by  a  dash  of  the  keenest  irony  ; 
with  perceptions  so  intuitively  penetrating  that 
he  seemed  at  home  in  the  deepest  chambers  of 
other  men's. hearts;  with  a  graceful  aptness  of 
expression  that  turned  even  common  thoughts 
into  gems;  and  with  a  love  for  his  Master  and 
his  work  which  mounted  up  into  a  ruling  passion  ; 
his  discourses  were  instinct  with  beauty  and 
power,  and  he  not  only  impressed  himself,  but 
engraved  himself,  on  the  hearts  of  those  to  whom 
he  ministered.  And  last  of  all,  there  was  your 
own  Taylor — your  own,  I  mean,  as  being  connect- 
ed with  one  department  of  the  College — even 
those  who  dissent  most  earnestly  from  some  of 
his  theological  views  have  borne  a  cheerful  tes- 
timony to  his  great  ability  as  a  preacher,  and 
some  of  them  have  even  pronounced  him  a  very 
giant  in  the  jDulpit. 

The  names  which  I  have  mentioned,  as  you 
perceive,  represent  only  the  ministry  of  the  Con- 
gregational and  Presbyterian  denominations ;  and 


G4 

these,  especially  the  former,  embrace  much  the 
larger  portion  of  those  who  have  engaged  in  this 
sacred  vocation  ;  but  we  may  not  forget  that  the 
Episcopal  Church  has  on  the  list  of  her  clergy  a 
bright  galaxy  of  names  that  are  found  also  on 
our  catalogue.  We  have  given  her  no  less  than 
seven  of  her  Bishops, — at  the  head  of  Avhom 
stands  Seabury, — a  man  eminent  for  his  talents 
and  virtues,  as  well  as  for  the  exemplary  dis- 
charge of  his  episcoj)al  functions ;  and  who,  if 
there  be  an  aj)Ostolic  succession,  was  surely 
worthy  to  be  in  it.  Then  there  was  Johnson, 
strong-minded,  erudite,  brave,  and  as  true  to  the 
interests  of  his  Church  as  the  needle  to  the  pole, 
while  yet  he  was  in  most  friendly  relations  with 
many  eminent  men  not  of  his  own  communion. 
And  after  him  came  Caner,  and  Barclay,  and 
Chandler,  and  Leaming,  and  Mansfield,  and  Ogil- 
viE,  and  Beach,  and  Hubbard,  and  Davis,  and 
Bronson,  and  Young,  and  I  know  not  how  many 
others,  some  of  whom,  lived  eventful  lives,  and 
all  occupied  honourable  fields  of  usefulness.  Yale 
College,  Congregational  though  she  be,  reveres 
the  memory  of  her  honoured  Episcopal  sons  ;  and 
I  am  sure  that  those  of  them  who  survive  are  not 


65 

wanting  in  grateful  remembrances  of  the  mother 
that  has  guided  and  cherished  them. 

If  the  catalogue  were  not  here  too  imperfect  a 
guide,  I  might  attempt  some  estimate  of  the 
influence  which  our  College  has  exerted  through 
the  other  liberal  j)rofessions, — namely,  Law  and 
Medicine,  Suffice  it  to  say  that  both  these  pro- 
fessions have  found  many  of  their  brightest  orna- 
ments here.  The  renowned  men  whom  I  have 
mentioned  as  connected  with  our  National  Legis- 
lature, or  holding  other  important  offices  in  the 
State,  had  many  of  them  earned  a  brilliant  repu- 
tation at  the  bar  before  they  were  thus  ad- 
vanced— witness  Jeremiah  Mason,  whom  Daniel 
Webster  is  said  to  have  pronounced  the  greatest 
lawyer  of  whom  New  England  can  boast.  And 
as  for  the  medical  profession,  I  need  only  men- 
tion the  names  of  Eliot,  Gale,  Munson,  West, 
Hubbard,  Cogswell,  and  Miner,  and  leave  you  to 
infer  the  probable  character  of  the  class  they 
represent.  I  may  safely  say  that  there  are  to 
be  found  no  lawyers  more  accomplished,  and  no 
physicians  more  skilful,  than  numbers  whom  I 
could  name  among  our  living  alumni,  if  I  would 
adventure  on  so  delicate  a  task  as  to  make  the 

selection. 

9 


66 

I  must  not  omit  to  say  that  our  College  has  had 
much  to  do  in  originating  or  sustaining  most  of 
our  Benevolent  Institutions.  The  American 
Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions, 
our  grand  pioneer  in  that  department  of  evan- 
gelical effort,  was  started  chiefly  under  the  au- 
spices of  some  noble  spirits  who  had  been  trained 
here, — one  of  whom,  and  perhaps  the  very  origi- 
nator of  the  enterprise,  was  Governor  Treadwell. 
President  Dwight  made  one  of  his  noblest  efforts 
in  the  pulpit  on  the  occasion,  I  think,  of  its  third 
anniversary.  Besides  giving  it  its  first  three  Pres- 
idents, Yale  College  has,  through  a  mighty  host 
of  her  alumni,  been  one  of  its  most  steady  and 
efficient  helpers,  as  it  has  gone  on  through  a  gen- 
eration and  a  half,  gathering  fresh  strength  with 
each  successive  year,  and  ranging,  as  an  angel  of 
light  and  love,  through  the  darkest  territories  of 
barbarism  and  moral  death.  Another  illustrious 
example  (and  the  only  one  I  will  add)  is  the  pro- 
vision for  educating  the  Deaf  and  Dumb.  You 
all  know  that  that  had  its  origin  with  the  gifted 
and  lamented  Gallaudet,  unless  indeed  it  be 
traced  farther  back  to  another  of  our  distin- 
guished graduates,^  whose  heart  was  first  moved 

*  Dr.  Mason  Fiteh  Cogswell. 


%  67 

in  that  direction  by  being  brought  in  sad  contact 
with  the  calamity  in  the  person  of  one  of  his  own 
children.  Mr.  Gallaudet  was  then  a  licensed 
preacher  of  the  Gosj)el ;  and  his  professional  ca- 
reer seemed  to  be  opening  under  circumstances 
of  much  more  than  ordinary  promise  ;  but,  from 
being  brought  in  frequent  contact  with  the  little 
deaf  and  dumb  girl  at  the  house  of  his  friend,  his 
sympathies  were  largely  drawn  out  towards  the 
unfortunate  class  which  she  represented,  until, 
under  the  patronage  of  several  philanthropic 
individuals,  he  crossed  the  ocean  to  learn  all  that 
was  then  known  of  the  manner  of  breaking  down 
the  barrier  between  them  and  the  world  to  which 
they  belonged.  Having  accomplished  his  mis- 
sion abroad,  he  returned  to  his  own  country  to 
become  the  head  of  a  noble  institution  in  which 
this  new  form  of  charity  began  to  display  itself  to 
the  admiration  of  the  whole  community.  Other 
similar  institutions  have  since  been  formed,  and 
other  sons  of  Yale  have  been  most  honourablv 
and  usefully  connected  Avith  them;  and  now  it 
has  come  to  pass  that  even  the  humblest  mother 
who  finds  that  the  little  creature  in  her  arms  is 
voiceless,  may  still  be  of  good  cheer,  because  the 
hands  may  be  trained  to  do  the  work  of  the  voice, 


68 

and  the  mind,  and    the    heart,  and   the   Avhole 
being,  be  educated  for  immortality. 

Say  now  whether  Yale  College  has  not  been  a 
prominent  instrument  in  the  hand  of  Providence 
in  sustaining  and  carrying  forward  every  cause 
that  is  identified  with  the  progress  of  society,  or 
the  permanent  well-being  of  the  race.  If  she 
was  present  as  a  helper  at  the  laying  of  the 
foundation  of  our  country's  liberty,  and  bore  a 
part  in  superintending  the  mighty  fabric,  as  it 
rose  amidst  showers  of  blood,  and  finally  assisted 
to  lay  the  top-stone  in  the  framing  of  our  glori- 
ous Constitution;  if  her  voice  has  ever  since  been 
a  familiar  one  in  the  halls  of  supreme  legisla- 
tion; if  she  has  graced  our  highest  places  of 
executive  and  judicial  authority;  if,  under  her 
auspices,  the  j)ulpit  has  been  a  throne  of  power, 
and  the  bar  an  engine  of  consummate  astuteness 
and  ability,  and  the  medical  profession  has  been 
constantly  growing  in  resjoectability  and  useful- 
ness ;  if  she  has  given  an  impulse  to  the  cause 
of  general  learning  that  has  vibrated  to  the  ex- 
tremities of  the  land,  and  has  even  been  the 
revealer  of  secrets  which  had  always  been  hid  in 
the  bosom  of  Omniscience,  but  which  now  come 
forth  in  the  form  of  blessed  helpers  to  the  world's 


69 

renovation  ;  and,  finally,  if  she  has  set  the  car 
of  Christian  Benevolence,  freighted  with  the 
blessings  of  salvation,  to  rolling  through  the 
earth — I  say,  if  these  are  the  triumphs  she  has 
achieved,  where  is  the  human  mind  compre- 
hensive enough  to  take  in  the  full  .extent  of  her 
influence  ?  Imagine  for  once  that  she  had  never 
existed;  or  that,  by  some  mysterious  and  malig- 
nant agency,  all  these  grand  results  of  which  I 
have  spoken,  were  annihilated, — would  it  not 
seem  almost  as  if  the  very  wheels  of  Providence 
were  clogged  ?  Would  not  the  whole  civilized 
world  look  round  to  see  what  great  jDillar  of  so- 
ciety had  fallen  ? 

But  none  of  us  believe  that  more  than  a  few 
of  the  first  pages  of  the  history  of  our  College 
have  been  written — we  expect  to  leave  the  bright- 
est part  of  it  to  be  written  by  posterity.  Be- 
lieve me,  we  have  not  an  engine  here  that  works 
mechanically  and  doggedly,  as  if  paid  by  the 
day ;  but  we  have  a  mass  of  intellectual  and 
moral  machinery  that  is  all  the  time  growing 
brighter  and  stronger  by  use  ; — machinery  that 
is  a  thing  of  life  and  thought,  and  that  will  not 
only  keep  going  amidst  all  the  changes  of  society, 
but  will  itself  reach  and  regulate  those  changes. 


70 

Only  let  Yale  College  move  on,  enlarging  her 
resources  and  her  influence  during  the  next  half- 
century  in  the  same  proportion  as  she  has  done 
during:  the  last:  and  then  let  that  be  the  start- 
ing  point  of  a  new  and  still  more  glorious  career, 
and  so  on  till  -lier  great  mission  shall  be  finally 
accomplished,  and  what  say  you  of  the  results 
which  coming  generations  will  have  to  con- 
template ?  We  live  in  a  country  blessed  of  Hea- 
ven above  any  other,  but  every  child  knows  that 
clouds  of  portentous  import  darken  our  national 
horizon — the  demon  of  party  prowls  among  us; 
and  foolish  men  and  mad  men  bow  down  at  his 
shrine  ;  and  some  of  them  talk  of  rending  in 
twain  this  great  brotherhood  of  States,  as  if  a 
few  fiery  threats  breathed  into  the  air  would  ac- 
complish it.  But  I  believe  that  history  Avill 
mark  these  men  as  prophets  of  Baal,  and  that  if 
they  should  look  out  from  their  graves  half  a 
century  hence,  they  would  find  the  whole  world 
laughing  at  them.  I  believe  that  this  great  na- 
tion has  yet  a  mighty  work  to  perform  in  her 
Unity;  and  I  expect  that  my  Alma  Mater  will 
wear  bright  laurels  for  the  part  she  is  to  bear  in 
it.  Not  only  by  ministering  continually  to  the 
intelligence  and  moral  strength  of  the  nation, 


71 

but  by  gathering  her  sons  from  every  part  of  it, 
and  brin2;ino;  them  into  relations  of  enduring 
good-will,  she  will  help  to  strengthen  the  common 
tie  that  binds  the  great  family  together.  We 
live  in  an  age  the  spirit  of  which  is  feverish, 
restless,  ever  dashing  onward.  A  Throne  used 
to  represent  stability,  perpetuity,  independence  ; 
but  it  has  come  now  to  be  reckoned  among  the 
most  insecure  of  all  earthly  things.  Tyranny, 
that  bloody  old  monster  that  has  been  dreaming 
fur  ages  of  a  universal  and  eternal  reign,  looks 
haggard  and  ghastly,  and  occasionally  shakes 
his  giant  frame  as  if  in  desperation,  thereby  re- 
vealing to  the  world  a  consciousness  that  his 
own  death-struo;ode  is  comintc  on.  From  the 
heaving  nations  there  comes  up  first  the  sigh  of 
discontent,  and  then  the  stern  utterances  of  re- 
bellion, and  then  follows  the  grasping  of  the 
sword.  Meanwhile  Christian  Benevolence  is  out 
upon  her  mission  of  mercy  ; — gor.ng  through  the 
world,  as  Heaven's  brightest  angel,  to  purify,  to 
elevate,  to  save — she  opens  channels  of  blessing 
in  the  heart  of  the  wilderness — she  writes  on 
the  face  of  midheaven,  so  that  all  the  world  can 
read  it,  and  God  writes  his  name  underneath, 
that  her  humble  but  glorious  work  of  evangeli- 


72 

zation  shall  never  stop  till  every  spot  in  the  wide 
world  shall  fall  within  the  actual  domain  of 
Jesus  Christ :  and  I  should  have  to  abjure  my 
Christianity,  and  give  up  my  confidence  in  Hea- 
ven's veracity,  before  I  could  doubt  that  her  pur- 
pose will  be  accomplished.  Good  and  evil,  two 
mighty  but  yet  unequal  forces,  are  now  in  fierce 
conflict;  but  the  latter  will  by  and  bye  be  forced 
to  yield,  and  then  the  universal  reign  of  truth, 
and  peace,  and  righteousness  will  begin.  Here 
again,  on  the  occasion  of  that  grand  jubilee 
that  will  be  kept  on  earth,  in  which  Heaven  will 
come  down  to  take  a  share,  I  expect  that  vene- 
rable Yale  will  lift  up  her  head  and  rejoice. 
As  she  goes  over  the  long  list  of  her  faithful 
sons,  and  sees  how  some  of  them  have  adorned 
one  sphere  and  some  another — how  some  have 
shone  as  stars  in  the  civil  horizon ;  and  some 
have  consecrated  their  energies  to  the  preaching 
of  the  Gospel;  and  some  have  planted,  and  cher- 
ished, and  directed  benevolent  institutions ;  and 
some  have  worn  out  their  lives,  and  finally  made 
their  graves,  among  the  far-off  Pagan  nations  ; 
while  an  All-wise  Providence  has  given  to  their 
diversified  labours  the  character  of  a  goodly  and 
effective    co-operation    for   bringing    about    the 


73 

grand  result, — I  say,  as  she  runs  her  eye  back 
on  the  pages  of  her  history,  in  which  this  great 
assemblage  of  glorious  facts  is  embodied,  I  pre- 
dict that  she  will  want  a  higher  language  to 
give  utterance  to  her  gratitude  and  her  rapture  ; 
that  she  will  be  ready  to  ask  the  loan  of  a 
celestial  harp  to  praise  the  Providence  that  has 
so  eminently  blessed  and  exalted  her. 

I  trust  you  will  not  mistake  my  purpose  in 
what  I  have  been  saying  of  the  past  and  the 
future  of  our  College.  It  has  not  been  to  cherish 
a  spirit  of  academic  pride  ;  for  lowliness  becomes 
us  in  this  as  in  all  our  relations.  It  has  not  been 
to  encourage  the  idea  of  isolation  in  respect  to 
other  colleges,  as  if  we  had  any  sister  so  humble 
that  we  would  not  gladly  invite  and  honour  her 
co-operation.  It  has  been  with  a  view  to  im- 
press you  with  your  obligations  to  the  cause  of 
learning  and  religion,  (for  they  should  never  be 
divorced,)  in  view  of  your  collegiate  advantages 
and  relations.  We  are  scattered  over  the  land, 
having,  to  some  extent,  different  aims,  and  occu- 
pying difterent  spheres ;  but,  if  we  will  be  true 
to  our  sense  either  of  gratitude  or  of  honour,  Ave 
shall  occasionally  turn  our  eye  towards  this 
10 


74 

mother  who  has  nursed  us,  and  ask  what  there 
is  that  we  can  still  do  for  her.  We  are  to  bear 
in  mind  that  our  career  in  life  identifies  itself 
with  her  reputation ;  that  every  lapse  of  ours 
makes  her  halt;  that  each  dishonoured  name  on 
her  cataloo'ue  comes  to  her  both  as  a  stain  and 
a  j^ang.  We  are  to  show  ourselves  in  sympathy 
with  the  cause  of  education,  with  the  cause  of 
religion,  with  all  the  great  interests  of  humanity, 
throughout  our  widely  extended  country — nay, 
there  must  be  no  limit  to  the  range  of  our  bene- 
volent thoughts  and  regards  short  of  that  line 
which  forms  the  boundary  of  the  world.  We 
must  cultivate  true  greatness  of  soul, — great 
aspirations,  great  purposes,  running  out  into 
noble  acts.  Above  all,  in  token  of  our  grati- 
tude, our  dependance,  our  accountableness,  we 
must  keep  our  eye  turned  upward. 

What  an  intermingling  of  death  and  life  does 
our  catalogue  present ;  and  3^et,  during  more  than 
half  of  the  years  which  it  records,  the  monster 
has  it  entirely  to  himself.  The  cold,  dark  stream 
takes  its  rise  in  1702 — it  is  at  first  a  mere  rivu- 
let, but  it  grows  broader  with  each  successive 
year,  and  comes  sweeping  down  through  the 
greater  part  of  a  century,  a  mighty  torrent  river, 


75 

leaving  not  one  solitary  name  that  is  not  buried 
beneath  its  surges.  Then  there  arises  another 
stream, — so  small  indeed  that  it  might  escape 
the  observation  of  any  but  a  careful  eye — but 
it  is  a  stream  of  life  ;  and  that  too  gradually 
widens,  until  the  other,  running  by  the  side  of 
it,  finally  disappears ;  and  at  the  end  of  the 
cataloo;ue  all  around  us  are  livins;  men.  Of  the 
senior  graduate,  Joshua  Dewey,  of  the  class  of 
87,  it  is  enough  to  say  that  his  venerable  pre- 
sence graces  this  occasion;  and  that  we  are  per- 
mitted to  look  upon  him  to-day,  a  vigorous  monu- 
ment of  God's  j)i'<^serving  care  and  goodn.ess 
through  the  long  period  of  ninety-three  years. 
The  only  surviving  member  of  the  next  class  is 
Daniel  Waldo  ;  and  another  such  specimen  of 
embalmed  youth,  in  a  minister  of  the  Gospel,  at 
the  age  of  ninety-eight,  I  believe  we  may  safely 
challenge  the  world  to  produce.  The  next  in 
order  is  Solomon  Stoddard,  of  the  class  of  '90, 
who,  through  life,  has  associated  an  honourable 
character  with  an  honourable  name,  and*  whose 
advanced  age  blesses  the  fine  old  town  that  gave 
him  birth.  Of  the  last  decade  in  the  century 
forty-one  survive,  averaging  a  little  more  than 
four  to  the  year;  and  from  1801  to  1810,   there 


7G 

are  two  hundred  and  ten  survivors,  averaging 
twenty  and  a  half  to  the  year.  Peace  to  the 
memories  of  the  dead  !  Light  to  the  footsteps  of 
the  venerable  men  who  are  now  treading  upon 
the  border  land  !  Prosperity  for  both  worlds  to 
our  brethren  who  survive,  in  the  freshness  of 
their  faculties ,  and  the  fulness  of  their  useful- 
ness ! 

And  now"  what  remains  but  that  we  linger  a 
little  longer  amidst  these  cherished  scenes,  ex- 
change once  more  our  fraternal  greetings,  look 
in  each  other's  eyes,  and  talk  over  the  past,  ten- 
derly, lovingly,  joyously,  and  then  part.  There 
will  be  other  meetings  like  this,  and  yet  not  like 
this,  for  we  shall  never  all  meet  again.  The 
throng  of  dark  stars  that  cloud  our  Triennial 
tell  the  story.  Those  stars  each  successive  year 
will  increase,  until  every  one  of  our  names  will 
appear  with  the  gloomy  prefix.  Brethren,  let 
us  be  wise.     Let  us  remember  that 

"  -Tis  not  the  whole  of  life  to  live, 
"  Nor  all  of  death  to  die." 

When  Ave  reach  the  end  of  our  earthly  course, 
may  w^e  be  ready  to  be  gathered,  and  find  a  gra- 
cious angel  there,  waiting  to  bear  us  up  into  the 
third  Heavens. 


DATE  DUE 

SriT  fair" 

r          .  ^    •     - 

Ul#N^ 

■  ^^1^. 

CAVLOMO 

r*INTCOINU    •  A 

LD6359 .A2S76 

-  A  discourse  addressed  to  the  alumni 

Princeton  Theological  Semmary-Speer  Library 


1    1012  00053  6179 


